


If You Wanna Fly

by phoebenpiper



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Humor, M/M, Missing Scene, Teenage Drama, Theatre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-23 05:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30050610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoebenpiper/pseuds/phoebenpiper
Summary: Why does Seb sing both Sharpay and Ryan’s lines?  Why is “Ryan” dancing with the basketball players?  Why does Carlos ask Seb to Homecoming when the series never shows them interacting beforehand?  All of these things make sense if you assume just one thing—the role of Ryan had to be recast by a dancer who couldn’t sing.Takes place at the time of episodes S1-E3 & E4, leading up to the beginning of S1-E5, and shows how Seb and Carlos's friendship/relationship developed.Due to this being so long, I decided to post it as chapters.  Each chapter is a different day, so their lengths vary, but I figured dividing it by day made the most sense!
Relationships: Ashlyn Caswell & Carlos Rodriguez, Ashlyn Caswell & Seb Matthew-Smith, Gina Porter & Carlos Rodriguez, Miss Jenn & Carlos Rodriguez, Seb Matthew-Smith & Carlos Rodriguez, Seb Matthew-Smith & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

As Seb played the final chord, Miss Jenn clapped her hands together. “Okay, people. Good rehearsal. We’ll see you all tomorrow.”

Seb noticed Carlos whisper something in their director’s ear, and Miss Jenn quickly added, “And Seb, can you stick around please?”

Seb nodded—on nights he had rehearsal, one of his siblings took care of the milking for him, so he didn’t need to worry about rushing home. He collected his music together and was just putting it away in his folder when Miss Jenn and Carlos approached, both shooting nervous glances at the door as the other performers slowly left. Seb wondered if he should feel nervous, but they didn’t look angry, so he just waited, as they did, for the last student to leave the room.

Miss Jenn then took a deep breath and turned towards him. “Seb, we wanted to talk to you privately because...something’s happened.”

Seb raised his eyebrows, curious but patient.

“It’s...a little awkward,” Miss Jenn continued. “You see, Chuck had a little problem this morning during 1st—”

“They found marijuana in his locker,” Carlos blurted out, causing Miss Jenn to shoot her assistant a scolding look and give a frustrated sigh before going on.

“Yes, it seems Chuck had a little brush with the law and therefore will no longer being playing Ryan.”

“Oh.” Seb wasn’t sure what else to say.

“So naturally we’re going to recast his part.”

Seb nodded. Cast changes were a normal part of the theatrical process. And while Chuck had seemed nice, he had always reeked of the stuff, which had made dancing with him slightly unpleasant.

“A lot of thought went into the recasting process,” Miss Jenn explained. “A director must consider the balance of the show, the ripple effect of pulling an actor to play another role, et cetera, so it’s not something you can rush into—”

“We cast Rico,” Carlos impatiently blurted out.

Rico? Seb tried to remember which one he was. He knew the hottie who’d sat next to him at the read-through was Kaison, and he was pretty sure—

“He’s been playing Jason,” Carlos added helpfully.

Seb nodded at the choreographer and smiled, thankful for the assist. He could easily picture the boy now—he was the one with dark curly hair who was often hanging out with Addie. Rico was an amazing athletic dancer, and Seb suddenly flashed on the back flips the boy had done at auditions.

AUDITIONS!

Seb suddenly remembered the boy’s singing audition...if it could even be called that. Rico was clearly not a triple threat, since he couldn’t even find the opening note to “Getcha Head in the Game” after Seb had been repeatedly pounding it out in the bass line for six and half measures before his entrance.

“We know, we know” Miss Jenn said, and Seb guessed that his opinion of Rico’s vocals must’ve shown on his face. “And that’s why we wanted to talk to you first, because we’re obviously going to have to rethink the Ryan and Sharpay numbers.”

Seb took a deep breath. He knew this sort of thing happened all the time in the theatre—a scene that an actor had worked hard on and was deeply important to his character arc might just end up on the cutting room floor—so Seb tried not to show his disappointment...even though he was really, really disappointed to get cheated out of his numbers.

Trying to sound professional, he asked, “So were you thinking of just cutting the numbers altogether or—”

Miss Jenn reached out and grabbed his hand. “Oh Seb, sweetie, we don’t plan on cutting the numbers. We want you to sing them as solos.”

“Solos?” Seb asked, confused. “But they’re duets.”

Carlos nodded, “Which is why we wanted to talk to you first. Since you’re a music-type person, we thought you’d be better able to tell us if it’s even possible to sing them as solos.”

“Let’s see,” Seb said, opening up his music folder and pulling out “What I’ve Been Looking For” and “Bop to the Top.” Although he’d had the lyrics memorized for years, he’d always thought of them strictly as duets. However, reviewing the words now made him realize they didn’t have to be. Sure, they’d lose some of the harmonies, and Seb would need to sing Ryan’s notes in some places to maintain the melody line, but that was totally doable. And Rico could still say his “Caliente!” and “Do the hustle!” lines, since they were spoken instead of sung.

Seb nodded. “I don’t see a problem musically with doing them as solos.”

Miss Jenn beamed. “That’s what we were hoping you’d say. So unless you can think of someone better…?”

Seb tried to systematically go through the other boys in his head. Like most high school drama departments, there were way more talented girls than boys. There were plenty of male dancers, but like Rico, most of them couldn’t sing. And there were lots of boys from choir, but most of them could barely act, let alone dance. No, there were no other triple threats available that weren’t already cast as leads.

Shaking his head, Seb answered, “I can’t think of anyone.”

Miss Jenn shrugged. “I figured it didn’t hurt to ask.”

Turning to their director, Carlos asked, “Do you want me to go see if I can catch Rico before he leaves?”

Miss Jenn nodded and Carlos rushed out.

“Thanks for being so flexible, Seb,” Miss Jenn said as he started to pack away his music once again. “And congratulations.”

Seb stopped and looked up at her, confused. “For what?”

“You just doubled the number of solos you’re singing in this show,” she said with a grin before turning and walking away.

That fact hadn’t yet occurred to Seb.

And now he couldn’t think of anything else!

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

“Don’t think of it as a chore; view it as ‘an opportunity’.”

Miss Jenn’s words kept echoing in Carlos’s head, but it was really difficult to see the opportunity here. After all, she wasn’t the one who had to totally rethink two entire numbers this late in the game. But Carlos knew this sort of thing was typical in theatre—how many stories had he read about brand new numbers being added to a show at the eleventh hour?—though those stories always focused on the performers so he’d never thought about how stressful that must be for the choreographer.

Especially since Miss Jenn hadn’t given him much direction. “I trust you,” she’d said, and while Carlos appreciated the trust, he would’ve preferred a little assistance. After all, this wasn’t just any ole choreography—the entire plot of the show now rested on these two numbers, and Carlos wasn’t sure how to approach them. So he’d come in early, hoping that being in the theatre space would help generate some inspiration.

But so far he hadn’t come up with anything brilliant. The current choreo kept intruding into his thoughts, making it difficult to come up with steps that weren’t merely derivative. Finally he decided to forget about the numbers completely and just start freestyling by himself, hoping it would clear his head.

“That looks great.”

Carlos jumped at the sound of Seb’s voice, not haven’t seen the blond boy enter the rehearsal room.

“Don’t stop because of me,” Seb continued, sitting down on the piano bench. “That looks fun. Who’s it for?”

“You.”

Seb looked surprised. “But you’ve already choreographed all my songs.”

“No, I choreographed all of Ryan and Sharpay’s songs.”

Seb nodded, looking confused. “Isn’t that what I said?”

Carlos shook his head; clearly Seb wasn’t getting it. “The choreo I designed was for two singing Evans twins.” Seb still looked blank, so Carlos continued. “The whole plot of the show is that Ryan and Sharpay are competing against Troy and Gabriella for the leads in the musical, right?” Seb nodded, but it was obvious that Carlos was going to have to spell it out for him. “The old choreo worked when both Ryan and Sharpay were dancers AND singers. But if Ryan isn’t singing...” Carlos trailed off, waiting for Seb’s moment of realization.

Finally Seb nodded. “...Ms. Darbus needs a clear reason to cast the Evanses.”

“Exactly. Which means Ryan’s dancing has to be amazing.”

Seb smiled. “That shouldn’t be too hard, right? I mean, Rico’s an amazing dancer. Can’t you just give him extra stuff to do?”

Carlos shook his head. “That would throw off the whole balance of the numbers. I can’t have you doing simple jazz squares while he’s doing backflips; it would be too obvious that we were overcompensating for his lack of singing. So I have to redo the entire numbers.”

Seb nodded in understanding, but Carlos sensed the boy was concerned. “What’s wrong?” he asked, walking over and sitting down across from Seb.

“I’m not the dancer Rico is,” Seb confessed, as if Carlos weren’t already aware. “I can’t do backflips; I can’t even do the splits. I mean, I can dance, but not like Rico. I’ll be happy to try to learn whatever new choreography you come up with, but...” He trailed off, clearly feeling somewhat self-conscious about his abilities.

Carlos was eager to put the boy at ease. “Good choreography doesn’t have to be difficult,” he explained. “And a good choreographer knows his dancers and plays to their strengths.” Which was why this new choreo was so important, because he wanted to show Miss Jenn that he could do just that.

But it wasn’t just that; it was important to Carlos that Seb’s turn as Sharpay was an unqualified success. After all, Carlos had been the one to encourage Miss Jenn to go out on a limb and cast the farm boy as the flamboyant diva, so he felt personally invested in making sure Seb was an unqualified success.

That meant choreographing two amazing numbers that completely distracted the audience from the fact that one of the twins wasn’t singing.

And luckily, Seb’s mere presence was starting to give him ideas. As new dance steps started to bombard his brain, Carlos noticed a common theme in most of the pairs choreo currently running through his head.

“Do you get dizzy?” Carlos asked, thinking of several fun spins that might be incorporated.

Seb smiled and shook his head. “Never. As a kid, I used to always twirl around in place as fast as I could, pretending I was Dorothy in the tornado.”

“Me too!” Carlos thought he’d been the only one. “I used to act out the entire movie. I memorized all of Ray Bolger’s dance moves, even the cut Jitterbug number.”

Seb laughed, shaking his head. “I wasn’t nearly that ambitious. I mainly just skipped around in my sister’s ruby slippers until I wore them out—apparently costume shoes from the Spirit Halloween store are not really designed for everyday wear on a farm.”

Carlos laughed. Seb was such a study in contradictions. Passing the quiet boy in the hallways, with his flannel shirts and chunky boots, no one would guess that he could pull off Sharpay. Yet in rehearsals, Seb totally channeled the dynamic drama queen, completely commanding the stage as if he owned the place. But this powerful facade would instantly drop the moment someone asked a music question; the boy wouldn’t hesitate to leave center stage to help out at the piano, demonstrating that his Queen Bee-like self-absorption was merely an act.

And now that they were chatting, it occurred to Carlos that he’d never really had much of a chance to talk one-on-one with Seb before, since the boy was usually behind the piano at rehearsals. But that was likely to change, as Carlos would be spending a lot more time with the boy in order to teach him all the new choreography.

Though first he needed to actually come up with the new choreo, and that wasn’t going to happen sitting here chatting all morning.

Carlos stood, saying, “I really should get back to—”

“Sorry!” Seb said, immediately standing up. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just—when I saw you dancing in here alone, you looked so—happy.” Seb gave a sunny smile himself before throwing his backpack across one shoulder and heading for the door.

Carlos felt bad for kicking him out, but he decided an apology might seem weird. So instead he joked, “We’ll see if you’re as happy when I finalize this new choreo.”

Seb stopped in the doorway and turned around, grinning. “I’m sure I will be, especially if there are lots of spins.” To make his point, Seb attempted a showy spin; unfortunately the textured soles of his farm boots caught on the floor, causing him to stumble awkwardly into the doorframe.

“Graceful!” Carlos teased, both boys laughing as Seb tried to catch his balance. “I hope you brought rehearsal shoes.”

Seb nodded, patting his backpack. “Always. Gotta be prepared.” He gave a final smile as he made his exit, calling back, “See you at rehearsal.”

Carlos smiled after the boy, more determined than ever to create choreography that would let him shine like the star Carlos knew he could be.

* * *

Seb wasn’t quite sure what he expected when Carlos passed him a note between classes, but it certainly wasn’t a scrawled question on the corner of a piece of notebook paper asking simply, “How much do you weigh?”

Seb showed it to Nini, who seemed just as confused...and a little offended. “Who sent you this?”

“Carlos.”

Nini’s horrified look quickly disappeared. “Oh, he’s probably asking for...choreography reasons?” she guessed with a shrug.

Seb thought that made sense, but he wanted to know. So after third period he tracked down Carlos, eager for clarification. After checking the theatre and the rehearsal spaces, he finally found Carlos near the music room, talking to Rico.

“Speak of the devil,” Carlos greeted with a smile as Seb approached.

Seb decided to just get straight to his question. “Why did you ask me about—?”

Seb’s sentence ended in a startled gasp as Rico, without preamble, grabbed him around the waist and lifted him into the air. Seb’s feet were only off the ground for a split second or two before Rico gently set him back down and turned back to Carlos.

The choreographer was smiling. “Perfect. I’ll see you at 3:15 then.” Rico nodded and walked away without saying a word, leaving Seb extremely confused.

“What just happened?”

“I wanted to make sure Rico could lift you. I have a great idea for ‘Stick’.”

“Stick?”

“’—To the Status Quo’?” Carlos finished as if it were obvious.

Seb frowned. “I thought you were only changing our duets.”

“Well, technically your part in ‘Stick’ is meant to be a duet, so I need to change that choreo so it matches your other numbers. Since it’s so short, I figured we’d start with it this afternoon and move on to the rest tomorrow.”

Seb suddenly remembered, “But I’m scheduled to play at rehearsal today.”

“I know, but I talked to Miss Jenn, and she said she’d rearrange the schedule. She’ll run all the music first with you there and then run the scenes after so you can work with me. Besides, that’ll give me time to teach Rico his part first, and then it’ll be easier to just add you in.”

Seb’s face must’ve demonstrated his wariness for Carlos put his hand on Seb’s shoulder. “Stop looking so worried. I going to make the Evans twins look so fabulous, no one will even notice that Ryan isn’t a triple threat.”

Seb smiled, despite his new worry: compared to Rico’s amazing dance ability, he couldn’t help wondering if he himself was only a double-and-a-half threat.

* * *

“Miss Jenn, we need to change the rehearsal schedule.”

Carlos noticed his director glance up at the clock on her office wall before turning to him. “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

Carlos shrugged. “It’s history. We’re studying the Nazis. I figure I’ll just listen to my soundtrack of _The Producers_ as I fall asleep tonight.”

Miss Jenn gave him a disapproving look.

“Fine!” Carlos gave in, throwing his hands up in defeat. “I’ll get the class notes from someone.” While class was important, this was more so. Besides, now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure Seb was in his history class, so getting the notes shouldn’t be a problem.

“But we really need to discuss the rehearsal schedule,” Carlos went on. “With Chuck out and Rico in, I’m going to need to schedule more rehearsal time with Ryan and Sharpay.”

Miss Jenn nodded. “I don’t see that as a problem. There are plenty of Troy and Gabriella scenes that could use some work.” She sighed, and Carlos guessed it was in frustration over the current Nini-Ricky-EJ situation—why did people’s love lives have to cause so many problems? Stupid hetero drama!

Carlos’s only problem was the availability of Sharpay. “Seb is the scheduled rehearsal pianist this week,” he explained.

Carlos had wondered at the wisdom of double-casting one of their main rehearsal pianists as a lead, but he’d assumed Miss Jenn knew what she was doing.

And of course Seb playing this week wouldn’t have been a problem if he hadn’t suddenly had to relearn several dances. No one could have foreseen having to replace one of their leads this late in the rehearsal process, so Carlos couldn’t completely blame Miss Jenn.

She turned to her computer, no doubt planning to look up the latest schedule that Natalie had sent out. Carlos already had it memorized; plus, he knew how to fix it. One thing Miss Jenn had already taught him was that it was better to offer solutions than to merely point out problems.

“This afternoon I thought you could run the Troy-Gabriella musical numbers first thing and then do the scenes after, thus freeing up Seb to work with me.”

It wasn’t so much that he’d lied to Seb when he’d told him that he’d already rearranged the schedule with Miss Jenn; it was more a question of verb tense, as in he knew he was going to talk to her instead of that he already had. And this application of yesterday’s English lesson made Carlos smile, realizing that he could probably skip English today as well in order to work on the new choreo.

Miss Jenn smiled and nodded. “That should work. And you can rehearse in the dance room while we use the bomb shelter.”

Carlos grinned. “Great minds!”

But Miss Jenn’s smile faded as she glanced at the schedule, which she’d finally pulled up on her computer. “But what about Saturday? We have an all-day dance rehearsal scheduled, with everyone called. We’d need Seb and you all day.”

“Weren’t you just saying the other day you wanted a chance to run through the scenes in order to make sure everyone understood the flow of the show? And besides, haven’t you only run some of the classroom scenes once, when you blocked them?” Carlos knew this second part to be true because he’d overheard Ashlyn bitching about it to Seb before rehearsal yesterday.

Miss Jenn nodded. “That could work. And I’m sure the chorus won’t mind getting out a bit early on a Saturday.”

Carlos clapped his hands together. “Excellent point.” One thing he’d learned so far as an assistant was to make your boss think all good ideas were theirs.

Miss Jenn reached for her phone, saying, “I’ll let Natalie know so she can get the word out.”

“Already done,” Carlos said smugly, pleased that he’d thought of it earlier.

But Miss Jenn tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, and Carlos realized his mistake. He quickly backtracked. “Sorry. I was just trying to be efficient,” he finished with a sheepish grin.

Miss Jenn laughed. “Very well. I guess I can’t really complain at having an assistant who anticipates my every move.”

Carlos was pleased and turned to go, but as he reached the doorway, the vision of Seb stumbling over his own boots this morning replayed in his mind. Turning back, Carlos asked, “Does the theatre department carry its own health insurance?”

Miss Jenn frowned. “Why do you ask?”

Carlos shrugged. “No reason.” He didn’t want to explain that some of the dance moves he was envisioning had the potential for injury. “See you at rehearsal,” he said as he scurried out, thereby avoiding any nasty follow-up questions.

* * *

“Good, you’re here,” Carlos said as Seb walked into the dance rehearsal room. “I’ve already shown Rico all the steps, so now we just have to add you in.”

He made it sound so simple.

Seb set his backpack down on the polished wooden dance floor and sat down, taking out his white dance sneakers and putting them on as Carlos started to explain the dance.

“So like we had before, you’ll start at the top railing for your ‘Everybody Quiet’ bit. Then you’ll walk down the stairs—Ryan stage left, you stage right—and meet downstage center on ‘Something is really.’”

As Carlos spoke the words, he dramatically held out his hands. Rico took his left hand and twirled across to his right, mirroring Carlos’s sweeping arm motion on the last syllable.

“On your next line, you pull out...jump turn...and into a dip,” the choreographer said, demonstrating each move as he spoke. “Then you basically just circle around while Rico spins spins spins, and then you fly.” Instead of demonstrating, Carlos gave a flourish with his hands as he grinned proudly.

“Fly?” Seb asked, wondering if it was a dance term he simply wasn’t familiar with.

“Yeah,” Carlos said, as if it were no big deal. “Rico will grab your ankle and spin you through the air.”

Seb just stared at the choreographer. “Are you kidding?”

“No, c’mon. Let me show you.” Carlos offered his hand down to Seb, who reluctantly took it and stood. Carlos brought him over to Rico, explaining, “You’ll hold on like this,” as he demonstrated the hand positions, which involved the boys simultaneously holding each other’s wrists. Carlos then stepped away from Rico, ordering Seb, “You try.”

Seb stepped next to his new dance partner and attempted to grab his wrist, but it took a bit of fumbling before they got the positioning correct.

“Good,” Carlos said. “Now lean forward, raising your right leg behind you.”

Seb tentatively did as he was told, not really sure what he was doing. Suddenly he felt Rico grab his upraised ankle, and the unexpected motion made Seb stumble in surprise.

“That’s it,” Carlos said, “but all in one fluid motion. You lean, raise your leg, bend your other knee, and fall.”

“Fall?” Seb didn’t like the sound of that.

Carlos shrugged. “It’ll feel like you’re falling, but you won’t because Rico will catch you. Now try it.”

Seb double-checked his grip on Rico’s wrist, realizing this connection was vital to his not being dropped, and hesitantly leaned forward, raising his leg. But once again, the moment Rico grabbed his ankle, Seb tensed and pulled up, hopping several times on his left foot to reestablish his balance before Rico released his right one.

“Try stepping into it,” Carlos prompted. “Step and lean.”

Seb attempted to follow these instructions. But with the added momentum of the step, he felt like he was falling even faster and jerked up even before Rico grabbed him.

“Stop doing that,” Carlos scolded, obviously annoyed. “It has to be one fluid motion.”

Seb tried several more times. But each try, as soon as he started to feel like he was falling, he’d flinch and pull up.

After his fifth try, at the sound of Carlos’s impatient sigh, Seb turned to face his choreographer, insisting, “I can’t.”

“Yes you can,” Carlos said, sounding more annoyed than encouraging. “Just don’t pull up. It’s like a trust exercise.”

Seb nodded. They did trust exercises all the time in the theatre. But being led around blindfolded or falling backwards into your partner’s arms felt different, no doubt because they didn’t involve seeing the floor quickly rushing towards your face.

“Couldn’t we just try the spin starting with me on the ground?” Seb asked. “Just so that I can like get the feel of it?”

Carlos shook his head. “That would never work. Your center of gravity would be off, and you’d just end up getting unnecessary floor burns.”

Seb frowned, wondering if floor burns were ever really necessary, as the choreographer continued. “You have to have the momentum behind you. It’d be difficult for Rico to generate enough speed to lift you from the ground in that position, but he can easily maintain your position if you settle into it by falling.”

‘Settle’ seemed a much less scary word than ‘falling’, but Seb was still nervous. “Perhaps if Rico could demonstrate by spinning you?” he asked, disentangling his hand from his dance partner’s wrist and taking a step away, hoping he’d better understand what to do if he saw what it was actually supposed to look like.

But Carlos shook his head emphatically. “Rico’s spinning you in the show, not me, and I don’t want him to get used to grabbing someone else.”

_Coward!_

Carlos must’ve sensed Seb’s frustration for he practically pleaded, “C’mon! You want to fly, don’t you? As Miss Jenn is always saying—‘if you wanna fly, you have to risk falling on your face.’”

Leave it to Carlos to recognize Seb’s one weakness—theatrical aphorisms. Seb sighed and returned to Rico’s side, once again locking the boy’s wrist in a death grip. He gave Rico a desperate look, as if silently begging not to be dropped, and his dance partner gave him a steadying nod in return.

“One fluid motion,” Carlos reminded. “Step...and fall.”

Seb took a deep breath, took a step as he raised his leg, and allowed himself to fall forward…

But instead of his face hitting the floor, he suddenly found himself flying, the floor spinning fast beneath him. It felt incredible and freeing…

And he didn’t know how stop! Carlos hadn’t bothered to give him instructions on that vital step. Rico surely couldn’t hold him up forever; in fact, the spinning floor was getting closer and closer with each revolution. Seb held his head up high as his stomach began to gently brush the floor. Rico eventually released his ankle, and the momentum caused his legs to keep going, turning Seb’s body and resulting in an awkward final position on his side, his hand still reaching up, having been too scared to release his hold on Rico’s wrist.

As Seb came to the slow realization that he had stopped moving and wasn’t injured, he heard Carlos squeal, “It worked! I can’t believe it!”

Seb let go of Rico’s wrist and sat up, crossing his legs yoga-style under him as the meaning of Carlos’s words came to him. “You didn’t know if it was going to work?”

Carlos looked slightly guilty as he defended, “It made sense in my head.” He grinned at the two dancers. “And it looked amazing! We’ll need to work on that landing, but yes, this is exactly what this number needed.”

Seb was a bit put-out that Carlos had allowed him to risk getting hurt. But then he smiled, thinking of Carlos’s words: “If you wanna fly, you have to risk falling on your face.”

He’d literally gotten to fly.

Which just meant he was going to have to risk falling on his face a lot during these next few weeks!

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Carlos hadn’t heard anyone enter the dance room, but he suddenly felt the presence of someone else there. He hoped that if he lay very still they’d leave, but instead the presence seemed to grow even stronger. Finally, unable to stand the suspense any longer, he opened his eyes.

Ashlyn’s face was less than a foot above his.

“What are you doing?” he asked, staring up at her, uncomfortable with her nearness.

“Just making sure you’re not dead,” she said, settling back on her haunches. “I was about to get out a mirror, to check if you were still breathing.”

“How very King Lear of you!”

Ashlyn laughed. “So your turn: what are YOU doing?”

Carlos sighed, staring up at the ceiling. “Choreographing.”

Ashlyn laughed. “Choreographing? Lying flat on the dance room floor? I’ll have to try that with my parents: ‘I’m not daydreaming—I’m doing my homework.’”

“But I AM choreographing,” Carlos insisted, propping himself up on his elbows. “Or at least I was.” He’d spent the last hour trying to get his creative juices flowing, but nothing had worked. He’d been happy with the new choreo he’d come up with for “Stick” yesterday, but “Bop” was proving to be much more difficult. “I kinda hit a wall.”

Ashlyn nodded. “So you decided to see if communing with the dance floor would give you any ideas?”

When she put it like that, it just sounded stupid.

Only she didn’t think so. “I get it. I do the same thing with the piano sometimes. Inanimate objects can have their own energy, and if we just take the time to listen, they may speak to us.”

Carlos crinkled his nose, eyeing the dance floor with disdain. “Well, the only thing this floor is saying to me right now is ‘The janitor has not mopped me lately…or perhaps ever.’”

Ashlyn laughed. “I think you’re right! Let’s get you off of there.” She stood and offered a hand down to the choreographer.

However, instead of helping him stand, the pull of Ashlyn’s arm only caused Carlos to slide across the polished wooden floor. When she offered her other hand, it simply made him spin.

Which was giving him an idea.

“C’mon,” Ashlyn said, yanking harder. “I can’t help if you don’t make an effort.”

But she WAS helping, even more than she knew, because his mind was suddenly flooded with new dance possibilities.

The spinning caused Carlos’s hands to become crossed above him, so he quickly crossed his feet beneath and let Ashlyn’s motion twirl him into a standing position.

“Hey, how’d you do that?” Ashlyn asked, looking amazed.

“I’m not really sure. But it looked good, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“Let’s try it again,” Carlos said, sitting back down on the floor and regrabbing Ashlyn’s hands. It took a bit of trial and error to recreate the movement, but once he did, he repeated it several times so he could feel exactly how to place his hands and feet to glide smoothly into position.

“That’s so cool!” Ashlyn gushed as they performed the move once again. “Are you going to put it in the show?”

Carlos shrugged. “I’d first need to figure out how to get Sharpay into that position.”

“Sharpay? Oh, that’s right—Rico!” She gave Carlos a knowing look, obviously aware that the Evans twins’ numbers were being reworked to disguise Rico’s lack of singing ability. “Well, if anyone can figure it out, you can.”

Carlos appreciated the compliment, but he was already attempting new dance moves, trying to work out how to get Seb down on the floor so he could be spun back up all in one fluid motion. After several minutes, as Carlos spun around yet again, he caught sight of Ashlyn in the mirror. He stopped, surprised she was still here, and asked, “Aren’t we done here?”

“Apparently,” Ashlyn said with a laugh. She started to leave but stopped at the door, turning around to ask, “Should I maybe go talk to the janitor for you?”

But Carlos was so in the groove, he didn’t even hear her question.

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Seb was sore.

Correction: parts of him were sore.

And after yesterday’s rehearsal, he was frankly surprised he could even walk.

He was beginning to wonder if the choreographer merely viewed him as a life-sized ragdoll. First flying, and now being thrown to the floor and spun around—didn’t Carlos realize that it was a real-live person he was having Rico toss?

Not that the choreography didn’t look amazing…or at least it WOULD, once Seb figured out how to do it. Rico seemed able to memorize the moves in an instant, but Seb needed more time to learn the steps, to figure out how to get his weight on the correct foot and how to get his center of gravity where it needed to be.

Which probably explained why he was so sore today. With normal dance steps, being off-balance only risked a tiny stumble, or at most a twisted ankle. But not being in the correct position when you were being casually tossed to the floor meant your arm could feel like it was being pulled out of its socket.

Or your butt could feel like a flattened basketball, colliding with the floor at speeds much faster than intended!

While Carlos promised that the moves could be performed without injury, Seb wasn’t there yet. Each time they had run through the new routine yesterday afternoon, Seb had obtained another bruise. In fact, Seb was so sore this morning, he was dreading having to spend the day rehearsing.

Though if today had been a weekday, he would’ve had to face the prospect of sitting in class for almost seven hours, a position which, based on the location of his bruises, would’ve been far more torturous!

So Seb approached the school this morning with some trepidation, hoping Carlos didn’t have any new surprises for him.

“Seb!”

Hearing Natalie’s voice, Seb paused and waited for his friend to catch up. As they started up the front walk together, Seb caught his breath at the soreness.

Natalie shot him a look, and he quickly explained, “My butt’s sore.”

The stage manager raised a wary eyebrow. “Do I dare ask?”

Seb nodded, explaining simply, “Carlos.”

Natalie smirked. “That didn’t take long.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” the stage manager said, rolling her eyes. “So how have your dance rehearsals been going? We’ve missed you, you know—and not just your smiling face. Ashlyn tried to fill in at the piano yesterday, but that girl is not the accompanist you are.”

“She’s getting better,” Seb quickly said, coming to the girl’s defense, knowing how much Ashlyn hated to play in front of others.

“Not better enough,” the stage manager commented. “Luckily Miss Jenn promised you’ll be back in rehearsals with us starting next Monday.”

“So soon?!”

Carlos still needed to finish rechoreographing “Bop to the Top,” and they hadn’t even started “What I’ve Been Looking For.” Surely they couldn’t accomplish all that, plus get the routines up to the level of the other dance numbers, in just one rehearsal.

Natalie disagreed. “You’ve got six hours today—how much more time do you need?”

Based on how complicated all the new choreography was, Seb wondered if several weeks would be enough!

* * *

“Gina!” Carlos called out as he caught sight of the girl passing by outside in the hallway. “Just the person I was looking for!”

Gina turned and gave him a smug look as she walked back towards the dance room. “That’s just the kind of greeting I like I to hear.”

Carlos smiled. He knew others thought Gina was kind of full of herself, but he recognized her talent and believed her self-assurance was more than justified.

And her talent was what he needed right now, because he was running out of time.

“Could I get your assistance? I’m trying to come up with new choreo for ‘What’ and I—”

“Oh, no,” Gina interrupted, putting up her hands to stop him. “I’m not a choreographer.”

“Um...yes you are. Your Taylor tray-ography was truly inspired.”

But Gina was frantically shaking her head. “Making up moves for myself is different. I can’t make up dance steps for other people.”

Carlos was starting to get desperate. “I just need someone to bounce some ideas off of.” He clasped his hands together as he begged, “Please?!”

Gina sighed and set down her backpack. “Okay, how can I help?”

Carlos grinned. It felt good to be able to discuss this with someone who actually understood.

“Okay, so my problem is I have to rework the choreography so that people won’t notice that Ryan isn’t singing.”

Gina grinned. “I can see why that would be a problem.”

“Exactly! See, ‘Stick’ was easy because the Evanses only have a small part in that song. And ‘Bop’ is meant to be a showstopper so I could go with super flashy. But ‘What I’ve Been Looking For’ is different. It’s supposed to be over-the-top and showy but kind of laughable…?” He trailed off, not quite sure how to articulate what was concerning him.

Luckily Gina seemed to understand his dilemma. “And you want the audience to be laughing at the routine but not actually laughing at the performers.”

Carlos nodded. It was the first time the audience would get to see Seb sing and dance as Sharpay, and Carlos didn’t want them thinking Sharpay was a joke.

“So what do I do?” he asked.

“Well,” Gina said, thinking outloud. “In the original routine, there’s not actually that much dancing, right? It’s mostly just Sharpay posing. And she gets upset at Ryan just for doing a jazz square.”

Carlos nodded. “But obviously we need more than jazz squares if we’re to distract the audience from Ryan not singing.”

Gina looked thoughtful. “Why not make THAT the joke?”

“Jazz squares?!” As far as Carlos was concerned, jazz squares could never be a joke.

“No, the fact that Ryan’s obviously not singing.” Gina was getting excited about the idea. “Maybe Ryan CAN sing, maybe even better than Sharpay—!”

“But Sharpay keeps cutting him off—!”

“So Ryan won’t show her up...him up...them up?” Gina finished with a questioning shrug.

But Carlos was too excited about this new idea to worry about pronouns right now. “And how about if, after getting cut off several times, Ryan gives up and just starts showing off his dance moves, back flips and all.”

“And Sharpay’s so busy preening and showing off that he doesn’t even notice that Ryan’s upstaging her.”

“It’s brilliant!” Carlos said.

“What’s brilliant?”

Carlos and Gina turned to see Seb entering the dance room.

“Carlos’s new choreo,” Gina said, flashing the choreographer a smile as she headed for the door. “Enjoy rehearsal.”

“Thanks!” Carlos called after her, grateful she’d come up with the brilliant idea...and even more grateful she’d given him credit for it.

He then turned to Seb, who had a wary smile on his face.

“It doesn’t involve throwing me around more, does it?” There was more than a hint of desperation in his voice.

“No,” Carlos laughed, shaking his head, “but we probably should start rehearsal by reviewing ‘Stick.’ You ready to fly this morning?”

Seb gave a tentative smile and two unenthusiastic thumbs-up.

* * *

Seb’s hip was still throbbing from where he’d landed on it wrong, but he managed to twirl up into his standing position and watched Rico twirl into place next to him. But as the next downbeat sounded, Seb just stood there, his mind a blank as to what came next.

“Box!” Carlos yelled out, but it was too late—Rico was already colliding with Seb, who now remembered that he should’ve stepped forward on the downbeat.

“Sorry!” Seb said, although he was certain he’d borne more of the impact than his dance partner. “I’m not good with transitions.”

Carlos had taught them the choreography in segments, and it was hard enough to remember the steps in each one, let alone what order the segments came in.

Especially when his hip was throbbing.

Seb absently wondered if he could get an ice pack from Miss Jenn at the lunch break.

If Carlos even let them break. He’d barely let them stop to hydrate all morning, and Seb was certain he’d sweated out gallons already.

Carlos now sighed, obviously frustrated. Seb was frustrated, too, but he was doing his best, and he hoped the choreographer recognized that!

“Let’s try it again,” Carlos said, pressing play on his phone.

Seb was about to protest, to ask if he could skip being thrown to the floor again so soon, when the opened doorway was suddenly filled with people.

“How’s it coming?” Steph asked as Kaden joked, “He’s not making you do weird things with a basketball, is he?”

Seb was pleased with the interruption, but clearly Carlos was not for he began walking towards the door, making shooing motions. “I need you guys to leave. This is a private rehearsal.”

“No, this is lunch,” Lauryn said as Addie hurried inside and gave Rico a quick peck on the cheek.

Carlos was clearly not amused. “Excuse me, Adeline, but you’re not welcome.”

“Let them stay,” Seb spoke up, wondering why Carlos was being so weird all of a sudden.

The choreographer turned to Seb, saying under his breath, “You’re not ready for an audience yet.”

“We’re not an audience,” Steph said with a laugh as she sat down yoga-style against the mirrored wall.

Kaison nodded as he joined her on the floor. “Yeah, dude, we just want to see how it’s coming along.” The hottie flashed both dancers an encouraging smile, causing a chill down Seb’s spine and a warm flush to his cheeks.

But Carlos was shaking his head, saying directly to Seb, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

But Seb was thrilled to have his drama club friends watch. He knew the dance was really rough, thanks entirely to him, but he still wanted the others to see what they’d been working so hard on for the last two days.

“Please?” Seb asked, tilting his head towards Carlos. “They’re just here to support us.”

Carlos looked doubtful, but Seb’s puppy-dog eyes—not to mention the chants of “Dance! Dance!” from their castmates—must’ve convinced the choreographer for he shrugged, saying, “Okay, it’s your funeral.” Carlos pulled out his phone, asking, “Should we just start at the second verse?”

Seb shook his head. “Let’s do the whole thing.”

Carlos frowned. “You sure? We’ve only gone through the first chorus once.”

Seb waved aside his concerns. “We’ll be fine. They just want to get an idea of what we’ll be doing.”

Carlos obviously didn’t believe it but hit play anyway.

The choreographer had been right, and the dance was mostly a disaster. Seb kept forgetting the moves, and several times he just stopped, staring at his dance partner to figure out what he was supposed to be doing next. Rico even stepped on the blond boy’s toes at one point because Seb had gone the wrong direction, and Seb almost dropped Rico once when dipping him.

But the other theatre kids were clapping and “woo”-ing throughout, and they even outright cheered when Seb was tossed to the ground and managed to spin up gracefully. It felt so good to actually be performing, not just repeating the steps mindlessly—it was a nice reminder that ultimately they would be dancing in front of a live audience.

As they reached the final chorus, Seb called out, “Just imagine the ladder,” since he wasn’t sure their miming would make sense otherwise. However, Steph & Addie immediately ran over to them, putting their palms together above their heads and leaning in to form the inverted-V of the missing prop. Seb was laughing so hard at their human ladder, he almost forgot what he was doing and just in time reached over the girls to bop Ryan on the head before landing his final pose.

The room was instantly filled with applause and cheers, and Steph turned from her ladder position to give Seb a huge hug.

“You’re going to be amazing,” the girl said. “I’m so proud of you.”

And coming from a talented dancer like Steph, that meant a lot. Seb could feel his cheeks turning pink as he admitted, “I know it still needs a lot of work.”

Before she could respond, Natalie appeared in the doorway. “Carlos, Miss Jenn sent me to make sure you take a lunch break.”

Seb gave a relieved sigh, grateful to be getting a break. He grabbed Steph’s hand and headed with the group towards the door before noticing that Carlos was still standing by himself.

“Carlos, aren’t you coming?” Seb asked.

The choreographer shook his head. “I think I’ll just stay here and work on stuff.”

Seb was about to say something more, but Natalie spoke first. “No, Carlos, Miss Jenn sent me to make sure YOU take a lunch break.”

Seb hurried over and grabbed Carlos’s hand. “C’mon! We’ll all eat together,” he said, dragging the reluctant choreographer out of the dance room towards the cafeteria.

* * *

Carlos looked around. It felt weird to be in the giant, mostly-empty cafeteria on a Saturday.

Correction: it felt weird to be in the cafeteria, period.

Carlos spent most of his lunch periods working on color guard routines or hanging out in the library...or more recently, chatting with Miss Jenn about the show.

Which was why Mr. Mazzara’s comment the other day had hurt so badly. Miss Jenn essentially WAS his closest friend, though he didn’t see anything wrong with that. If he was going to Broadway, he was going to have to work with adults, so why not practice that now?

Besides, being Miss Jenn’s assistant—and the show’s choreographer—made things difficult for Carlos. He was an authority figure, and as such, he needed to maintain some distance from the cast in order to command their respect.

Right?

But he was beginning to wonder if he’d held himself apart merely to avoid the possibility of rejection.

Although no one seemed to be rejecting him right now. In fact, everyone was acting like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to be eating lunch with them.

Natalie was here, too, and she was also a sophomore in a position of authority, yet she was totally accepted as one of them.

Could this mean that Carlos could just hang with them as well? He wasn’t sure, but he was starting to hope so, especially because he was enjoying watching everyone interact together outside of rehearsal.

Especially Seb.

Carlos was realizing for the first time that, amongst the theatre kids, Seb was really popular. Not in the “EJ-water polo” sort of way, but in the “everyone genuinely liked him” way. Almost every single castmember had come up to Seb to tell him how much they’d been missing him at rehearsals, and they all seemed eager to hear about his newest dance adventures.

And Seb was eager to tell them all about the amazing choreography Carlos had been teaching him and Rico. The blond boy was so effusive in his compliments that Carlos wondered whether people would think Seb was sucking up to him for some reason. However, the farm boy was so earnest, not even a true cynic would believe he was lying.

Though Seb was now whispering something privately to Natalie, and the stage manager nodded and quickly disappeared. Before Carlos could ask what that had been about, Nini suddenly showed up at the table, giving Seb a quick hug from behind.

“I’m sorry I missed your dance,” she said. “I heard it was amazing.”

Seb laughed, his face turning pink. “Amazingly terrible, maybe. I forgot like half the steps.”

Nini shrugged off his self-deprecation. “You just learned it—you’ll get it eventually.”

Seb grinned. “Such wise words from a former tree,” he teased, and she playfully smacked him on the shoulder. But the boy suddenly looked thoughtful, turning to Carlos to ask, “Why weren’t you in _Brigadoon_ with us?”

Carlos didn’t know what to say. _The drama teacher laughed at my choosing a Whitney Houston song as an audition piece and didn’t even invite me to callbacks?_

Luckily Nini spoke up before he could answer. “You did color guard last year instead, right?”

“Oh, that’s right!” Seb said, smiling at the choreographer. “I saw you perform at one of the football intermissions.”

“Halftime, dummy,” Nini teased. “And since when did YOU go to a football game?”

Seb blushed. “What? I’m not allowed to look at the boys?”

Their teasing conversation continued, but Carlos was no longer listening. While he’d made assumptions, he’d never actually heard Seb make any comments about his sexuality before. But the casual way he’d just made reference to it made it clear that Nini and the other theatre kids were totally aware...and were totally fine with it.

Which was good to know.

As Nini wandered off back to her seat with EJ and Kourtney, Natalie reappeared, handing Seb an ice pack. “Here.”

Carlos frowned. “What do you need an ice pack for?” He didn’t remember Seb hurting himself during rehearsal.

The boy’s face turned a deep red as he mumbled, “It’s nothing.”

“Seb, as your choreographer, I need to know if you’re injured.”

Ignoring Carlos’s comment, Natalie put a hand on Seb’s shoulder, saying, “If you’re going to sit on that, you better do it now—we’re back in 10.” She then announced to the rest of the cast, “10 minutes, everyone.”

“Thank you, 10,” came the unison response from the rest of the theatre kids before they all laughed together.

But Carlos was too busy watching Seb, who had surreptitiously sat down on the ice pack and was now avoiding the choreographer’s gaze.

* * *

Seb was in a great mood when they returned from their lunch break. The ice pack had definitely helped, and one buttock was now mostly numb. Seb was thus eager to take advantage of this lack of feeling and work on the floor toss while he wouldn’t feel any pain.

But Carlos had other plans.

“I think we should start with ‘What’.”

“What?”

“’What’. ‘What I’ve Been Looking For’.”

Seb felt his good mood starting to evaporate. “Are you sure you don’t want to end the day with that?” he asked hopefully, recognizing that the numbness wouldn’t last very long.

But Carlos shook his head. “We can review ‘Stick’ and ‘Bop’ at the end of rehearsal. But I want to make sure we have enough time for ‘What’.”

Seb sighed. His brain was already so full of dance moves, he didn’t think he could squeeze in any more.

But Carlos was in charge, and Seb wasn’t about to contradict him.

“So where do you want us?”

“Actually we’re going to do something a little different this time.” Carlos walked over and handed Seb and Rico each a pen, saying, “Here are your microphones. For now, I just want you two to improvise.”

“Improvise?! You mean, like, make up our own dance steps?” Wasn’t that Carlos’s job?!

“You don’t have to dance. Just...perform.”

Seb was lost. “Like, act out the lyrics?”

Carlos sighed, clearly frustrated. “No. Just...BE Sharpay and Ryan.”

“So...do the choreography from the movie?” Seb remembered some of it, but not all. Turning to Rico, he asked, “Can you do a one-handed cartwheel?”

“Just forget about the song!” Carlos practically yelled. He then took a calming breath and said in a more normal tone, “Seb. You’re Sharpay. That’s your microphone. I’m Ms. Darbus. This is your audition. And...go.”

Seb still wasn’t really sure what Carlos was looking for, but he was afraid to ask for further clarification, since Carlos already seemed frustrated with him. Seb was also nervous that, if he didn’t perform correctly, he’d made the choreographer even more upset, and Seb didn’t want to make things worse. This was exactly why Seb hated improv—he was always trying to guess what the other person wanted, too worried about screwing it up for them.

But Carlos hadn’t even mentioned Rico just now, so maybe they were going to improvise separately, which should make things easier. After all, Seb knew how to be Sharpay.

So after licking his lips thoughtfully, considering his options, Seb tossed his head and strutted to the center of the dance room. He held the pen up to his mouth like a microphone and was about to speak when Carlos interrupted.

“Ryan, go ahead and join your sibling center stage.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Seb saw Rico shrug before starting to walk his way.

He didn’t get far, though, before Carlos said, “Can you do something more...dance-y?”

Rico paused for a moment before holding his pen horizontally in front of him, like a cane, and performing a jumpy tap step sideways across the floor.

Carlos clapped his hands together. “Buffaloes—perfect!”

Seb was starting to wonder whether the choreographer had actually choreographed this number when Carlos continued, “Now Sharpay, Ms. Darbus’s attention has been distracted by Ryan. What do you do?”

Seb’s head was immediately back in Sharpay’s, thinking of ways to distract from his dancing sibling. Realizing that big motion would divert attention, Seb stepped in front of Rico, raising his arms and fanning them out like giant jazz-handed wings.

Rico didn’t need to be told that it was once again his turn to distract for he instantly started doing more complicated dance moves. Seb responded to each new move with a grand pose, always something big and attention-grabbing...and downstage of his sibling! But as Rico’s dance moves grew more acrobatic, Seb realized he’d have to up his game if he was to get the focus back. Finally, as Rico did a back flip and then jumped into the splits, Seb turned sideways and grabbed the edge of his warm-up jacket, flirtatiously pulling it off his shoulder like Gypsy doing a striptease.

Carlos lost it, falling to his knees in hysterical laughter.

It felt amazing to elicit such a reaction, so Seb kept going. Dropping it like it’s hot, he coyly looked over his partially exposed shoulder, asking into his pen-mic in his most kittenish voice, “So what do you think, Ms. Darbus? Will you cast us?”

Holding his side, Carlos managed to get out between laughs, “Absolutely! I’d cast you in a heartbeat. You two are fabulous.”

And just like that, Seb was out of Sharpay’s head and back in his own, pleased that he’d survived this improv exercise, thrilled that he’d made Carlos laugh, and elated that the choreographer had used Sharpay’s signature word to describe him. Seb stood up, flashing an excited smile at Rico before they both turned their attention back to Carlos, eager to find out what he wanted them to do next.

Carlos had recovered from his laughing fit and was reaching for his phone. “Okay, now let’s try adding in the music.”

But Seb frowned, realizing his earlier instincts had been correct. “You didn’t choreograph this number?” he asked into his pen-mic.

Carlos shrugged. “Something so character-driven needs be organic. If the moves didn’t come from you, they would seem forced.”

Rico raised his pen-mic, about to ask a question of his own. But Seb still needed answers from the choreographer, so without thinking he grabbed Rico’s pen away, as if it were a real microphone, and spoke into both pens, “But you ARE going to choreograph it, right? I mean, we’re not just going to improvise on stage every night, are we?” The thought was terrifying to Seb.

But Carlos was too distracted to answer his question. “That!” he said, pointing at the two pens now in Seb’s hands. “The first time Ryan goes to sing, you steal his mic! It’s PERFECT!”

Seb liked seeing the choreographer so happy, but he was still anxious to get an answer to his question.

But before he could ask it again, Carlos went on. “Let’s not even put on the music yet—let’s just talk through it and figure out what we want to put where. Let’s start off with fingersnaps, like in the movie, and then we’ll have you walk together downstage, Sharpay singing into your mic, and...”

Seb breathed a sigh of relief as Carlos continued to block out their choreography for the song. Clearly the improv had merely been a tool to generate character bits that Carlos could now put together into a coherent dance.

And while Seb hadn’t yet seen his costume for this number, he secretly hoped he’d be wearing some kind of jacket or vest so he could do the off-the-shoulder striptease.

Because he kind of enjoyed the reaction he’d gotten from Carlos with that move!

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

“Take a note—this is what a frustrated drama teacher looks like.”

It was the first rehearsal back after Saturday’s long dance rehearsal, and Carlos couldn’t believe Miss Jenn was actually shutting it down just to lecture Ricky. He was about to ask if she wanted him to carry on without her, but she continued, “Go! Scoot! Come back when you’re ready to be punctual, park your distractions at the door, and take the work in here seriously.”

Miss Jenn turned and left, along with several of the students, and Carlos realized he’d better salvage what he could. “Don’t forget, people, tomorrow’s a dance rehearsal. Remember to bring your dance shoes AND a water bottle—we don’t want a repeat of last week’s water fountain fiasco.”

He knew most people weren’t even listening, too caught up in the drama they’d just witnessed. Carlos sighed and slowly packed up his own backpack, frustrated that they’d basically just lost almost an entire rehearsal...and that he was now going to have to kill tons of time by himself until his ride got here.

As he turned to head out, he noticed Seb was still at the piano, the only other student left. Being the assistant director, Carlos needed to be the last to leave, so he waited while Seb typed something into his phone.

Finally the blond boy looked up. “Are you waiting for me?”

Carlos nodded. “I’ve got to lock up.”

“Sorry,” Seb said, instantly packing up his piano music.

That reminded Carlos, who gestured to the boy’s music folder. “You do know you were playing the wrong music today, right?”

Seb started blankly at him. “What do you mean?”

“You were playing the Ryan and Sharpay version of ‘What I’ve Been Looking For’, not the Troy and Gabriella version.” For some reason the boy had played the uptempo accompaniment instead of the slow, sappy version.

Seb looked blank for a moment, but then realization came, along with an embarrassed blush across his cheeks. “I’ve been rehearsing the new Sharpay choreography so much, I didn’t even notice. Why didn’t you say something?”

Carlos shrugged. “I think everyone was too distracted by EJ and Nini to really care. Do you know what all that was about?”

“They had a fight. Something about a voicemail from Ricky and a deviled egg? How’s your toe, by the way?”

Carlos was taken aback by the sudden change of subject. “My toe?”

Seb nodded. “You said Natalie stepped on it?”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Carlos said dismissively, more interested in the rest of the conversation. “So what do you think the fallout will be from this whole EJ/Nini fight?”

Seb shrugged. “I was just texting with her, and she seems pretty upset. Kourtney is taking her out to coffee—”

“I mean, are either of them going to quit the show?!” Carlos blurted out—as assistant director, his first concern was the production.

But Seb shook his head. “I doubt they’ve thought that far ahead.”

Carlos gave a frustrated sigh. _Stupid hetero drama!_

Seb nodded. “Yeah, definitely more drama than usual!”

_Oh my God, I said that outloud!!_ “I shouldn’t have said that!” Carlos blurted out.

Seb shrugged. “Why not? It’s true.”

“But I’m their choreographer. I shouldn’t be saying things about the personal lives of the castmembers.”

“It’s not like they’re keeping their drama private,” Seb pointed out. “Besides, rehearsal is over—you’re not their choreographer right now.”

Carlos wasn’t convinced, but it made him feel better none-the-less. He remembered how, at lunch on Saturday, the cast had treated him like he was one of them, not some elusive authority figure. So maybe Seb was right and saying the comment wasn’t that big a deal?

Seb went on. “I’ve been kinda worried about Nini ever since school started. I’ve never really trusted EJ, and I have no idea what she sees in him.”

“Um...amazing abs, powerful jawline, penetrating eyes?”

Seb crinkled his nose. “You think he’s cute?”

“I don’t just think it—it’s a well-established fact. Even Miss Jenn agrees, and she’s almost twice his age.”

But Seb was not convinced. “He just doesn’t do it for me.”

“Then who does?”

Seb’s face immediately turned bright red, and he refused to meet the choreographer’s gaze.

Carlos momentarily panicked, worried that Seb might think HE was cute and therefore now be in a super awkward position, all because Carlos had opened his big mouth.

Not knowing how to fix things, Carlos simply blurted out, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to!”

“It’s okay,” Seb said, awkwardly biting his lip and twisting his foot like a lovestruck 9-year-old girl. “I’ll tell you. But...” he leaned in close and lowered his voice, “you can’t tell anyone, okay? I mean, I haven’t even told Natalie.”

Carlos gave him a reassuring nod. He was relieved that Seb’s crush wasn’t on him...and a little bit disappointed, to be honest.

Seb took a deep breath before admitting, “I kind of have a thing for Kaison.”

“Top-knot?!” The dancer certainly wasn’t who Carlos would’ve pictured as Seb’s type.

But Seb was giving him a funny look. “Top-knot?” he repeated.

“Oh, sorry. I kind of gave everyone nicknames at the auditions, so I could remember who was who.”

“Isn’t that what the audition numbers are for?” Seb teased.

“Yeah. But seriously, what are you more likely to remember: 6, 12, and 26, or Grayhair, Curlyhead, and Top-knot?”

Seb laughed. “The fact that you still remember Kaison’s number weeks after auditions makes me think—”

“Carlos, have you seen—oh, hi, Seb,” Miss Jenn said as she poked her head in the door. She then began again, “Have either of you seen Natalie?”

Carlos shook his head. “She left with Ashlyn right after you.”

“I can text her,” Seb offered, grabbing his phone.

“Can you just deliver this instead?” Miss Jenn asked, holding a shoebox out at arms-length as she approached.

“Eliot!” Seb cried out, running over, grabbing the box, and peering inside. “He’s not dead! Natalie will be so happy!”

“Well, make sure you tell her she owes me a protein bar. And a bag of sunflower seeds.” Miss Jenn started heading for the door but then turned back, asking, “I’m sorry—were you two boys staying to rehearse or something?”

“No, we were just leaving,” Carlos said quickly, not wanting Miss Jenn to think he’d been ignoring her orders to leave. However, he thought he heard Seb give a disappointed, “Oh,” and suddenly wondered whether he should have been so quick to answer.

“Well, don’t let me interrupt anything. Carlos, just lock up when you’re done. And you two go enjoy your suddenly free afternoon.”

After Miss Jenn exited, Seb turned back to Carlos. “I guess I should go find Natalie,” he said, sounding almost sad.

Carlos didn’t blame him. He’d been having so much fun, he didn’t want the afternoon to end either.

Because it occurred to Carlos that this was the first time he’d ever dished cute boys with another boy! So he couldn’t just let the conversation end now.

“Do you want company?” he blurted out.

The beatific smile that instantly spread across Seb’s face answered that question.

“But only if we continue from where we left off,” the blond boy teased, throwing his backpack over his shoulder and heading towards the door with the shoebox in hand. “So I have to know—what other numbers caught your attention at auditions?”

* * *

“So who do you like in _High School Musical_?”

Seb had safely delivered Eliot back to his owner, who had still been scouring the hallways looking for him, and now the blond boy was sitting with Carlos on a bench in front of the school, enjoying the warm autumn weather.

But his new friend was frowning at this latest question. “Ours or the original?”

Seb smiled, teasing, “I think we’ve already established your bad taste in ours.”

Carlos playfully elbowed Seb before answering. “Well, I’d say Troy, because Zac obviously, but the real answer is probably Ryan. I mean, he’s a choreographer, amazing voice—”

“He likes to hang out with Sharpay,” Seb coyly teased.

Carlos laughed. “And the way his hips move in ‘Bop to the Top’...whoa!” He smiled, clearly lost in the happy memory for a moment, before asking, “You?”

Seb could feel his cheeks turning pink. “I’m afraid you’ll judge me.”

Carlos shrugged. “No I won’t...unless you have some weird father figure complex over Coach Bolton.”

“Ew!” The mere thought of it made Seb shudder. “No! I like...” He trailed off, staring down at his lap.

“Just say it,” Carlos prompted.

Seb took a deep breath and admitted, “I like Zeke.”

Carlos shrugged. “Why would I judge you? Zeke’s cute.”

“Because Zeke’s who Sharpay likes—but that’s not why I like him!” he hastily explained.

Carlos laughed. “I wouldn’t have even made that connection. But now that you mention it...”

Seb playfully elbowed his new friend.

Carlos suddenly got a thoughtful expression on his face. “Hey, isn’t Kaison playing Zeke?”

“Yeah,” Seb answered, feeling his cheeks grow pinker, before quickly asking, “So what’s your favorite dance routine?”

“In _High School Musical_? It’d have to go with ‘Stick’—for both ours and the movie. I mean, what’s not to love? Great harmonies, amazing choreography, the number was filmed in our very own cafeteria—”

“And the cello guy in the movie’s pretty cute,” Seb added.

Carlos laughed. “Okay, that one I WILL judge you for,” he teased. “So what’s yours?”

Seb licked his lips, trying to decide. “A part of me wants to say ‘I Don’t Dance,’ but I think I’ll stick with ‘I Want It All.’”

The confused, and slightly embarrassed, look on Carlos’s face made it very clear.

“You haven’t seen 2 and 3?!”

“I’ve seen the first 15 minutes of both,” he offered defensively.

“Then you don’t know what you’re missing. ‘I Don’t Dance’ is the most amazing baseball dance number ever, and that’s saying a lot, since I almost broke our Tivo rewatching the Yankees number from _Smash_ over and over.”

Carlos again met him with a blank look.

“You don’t know _Smash_? And you claim you want to be on Broadway?” Seb dug his phone out of his pocket and searched for the first video as he explained, “ _Smash_ was about creating a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe. This is the first song they do, in order to get backers for the project, so the creative staff are imagining how it will look onstage.” As he held out his phone so both he and Carlos could watch, he said, “And note the glitter pinstripes. They’re not just baseball pants with pinstripes—they’re baseball pants with glitter pinstripes!”

It had been awhile since Seb had watched “The National Pastime,” and he’d forgotten how acrobatic that dance it was. Seeing Marilyn being repeatedly tossed through the air by the baseball players made Seb catch his breath, and he was thankful that Carlos had already finished rechoreographing all the Sharpay numbers!

But Seb was watching Carlos more than the tiny screen. Seeing the choreographer’s eyes light up was almost better than the glitter pinstripes.

Almost.

“And this was a TV show?” Carlos asked as the number came to an end and Seb started searching for the next video.

“Two seasons. It was my favorite show when I was eight.” Seb then held up his phone again, saying, “But I think this routine is even better.”

Seb had purposefully chosen a video clip that included the bat toss between Ryan and Chad because Carlos needed to understand where all the tension was coming from.

And because Seb may have memorized the entire dance routine the summer it came out, this time he could focus all his attention on Carlos. The choreographer’s jaw kept gaping wider and wider as he watched the tension build between the two baseball-playing dancers.

Eventually Carlos gasped. “He did not just say, ‘I’ll show you how I swing’?!”

Seb beamed. “He did. And just wait for the big dance break.”

Carlos seemed to thoroughly enjoy all the swing dancing. But during the last verse, when several of the ball players were showing off their gymnastic stunts, Carlos commented, “Rico has much better technique on his back flips.”

Seb nodded. “And according to my brothers, Lucas’s pitching technique isn’t very good, but it’s not like we care about that, right?”

As the song came to an end, Carlos turned to face Seb. But the blond boy insisted, “Keep watching!” because he’d also chosen a clip that included the post-game scene.

Watching the two boys on the screen merely sit and talk, Carlos asked, “Why am I watching this?”

“Look at what they’re wearing.”

Seb knew the instant Carlos figured it out because his eyes bugged. “Why are they wearing each other’s clothes?!”

“No one knows—it’s just left up to our imaginations.” Seb grinned. “Thank you, Kenny Ortega.”

Carlos laughed. “Clearly I need to watch the rest of these movies.”

“Definitely,” Seb said, preparing the next video. “Though sadly the Ryan/Chad thing doesn’t go anywhere. But I forgive them, because in 3 they gave us this, though it’s obviously better on a big screen.”

Seb handed his phone to Carlos this time so he could hold it closer. Only two lines into “I Want It All,” Carlos turned away from the phone to give Seb a weird look.

“Are you doing Sharpay’s choreography?”

Seb could feel his cheeks growing warm—he hadn’t even noticed he was doing it.

“Don’t feel like you have to stop because of me,” Carlos said, returning his attention to the small screen.

Seb now felt self-conscious about it—yet he kept noticing himself absently mirroring some of her moves.

In the fantasy section, Carlos teased, “Shirtless Zeke—now I understand why you like this number,” causing Seb to blush.

Next came the dark, whisper-y middle section, and Seb didn’t even bother to hide his jazzhands!

And as the setting switched one last time, showing their very own cafeteria transformed into a Broadway fantasyland, with “Ryan & Sharpay” written in giant neon letters across the back wall, an incredible invisible staircase up to the balcony, and an entire kickline of pink Wildcat chorus girls, Carlos literally gasped. And that was before the fireworks!!

By the time the song ended and the cafeteria marquis returned to “New York Deli Platter,” Seb realized his cheeks were hurting from smiling so much, watching his friend react.

Carlos gave a shuddering sigh, dropping the phone to his lap and leaning back against the bench. “That...was intense. I’m going to need a minute.”

Although he was eager to hear Carlos’s opinions, Seb waited patiently.

Eventually, the choreographer gave out a simple “Wow!”

“I know, right? Wasn’t it fabulous?”

Carlos nodded. “Amazing! The production value! The costumes! The dancing!”

Seb couldn’t agree more. “So what was your favorite part?”

Carlos didn’t even have to think. “Definitely the Fosse section.”

“Fossy?” Seb wasn’t sure he’d heard him right.

“You know—Fosse! Fosse! Fosse!” Carlos said, strangely waving jazzhands back and forth in front of him as he spoke.

Seb laughed. “What are you doing?!”

Carlos gasped...and not in a good way this time. And now he was looking in horror at Seb, and Seb had no clue why.

Finally Carlos shook his head and then took a steeling breath, obviously about to say something unpleasant.

“First off,” he began, “Bob Fosse is one of the greatest choreographers that ever lived. You seriously haven’t heard of him?”

Seb could see the disappointment on Carlos’s face, but he couldn’t lie. “No?” he tentatively admitted.

Carlos gave a single nod. “Well, the good news is that he made an entire musical about baseball, so you have that to look forward to.”

Seb gave a wary smile, knowing that Carlos’s lecture wasn’t finished.

“And I’m guessing from your reaction that you’ve never see the birdcage.”

Seb’s forehead crinkled. “What birdcage?”

“ _The Birdcage_. It’s a movie with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.”

Seb didn’t quite see the connection. “Did Fosse direct _The Birdcage_?”

Carlos shook his head and automatically swiped the phone in his lap...and was momentarily confused when a picture of Sharpay in her Fabulous sunglasses popped up as the lock screen.

Seb quickly grabbed his phone back, embarrassed, as Carlos reached into his pocket for his own phone.

But suddenly a horn sounded in the parking lot.

And unfortunately Seb recognized that honk.

“I’ve got to go. I’m really sorry—that’s my ride.”

Carlos looked surprised. “How late is it?”

Seb glanced at his phone. “Almost six?”

Carlos jumped to his feet. “Oh. Yeah. I should probably be calling for my ride, too.”

“I’d offer you one but—” The horn sounded again, longer this time. “Maybe you can show me that video tomorrow?”

Carlos smiled. “Absolutely.”

As Seb hurried off towards the pick-up, he heard Carlos call after him, “Don’t forget, tomorrow’s a dance rehearsal.”

Seb turned and gave a quick wave as he climbed into the truck. He now knew what he’d be doing all evening—he couldn’t show up for tomorrow’s rehearsal without showing some improvement or the choreographer would never forgive him!

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

Carlos had spent his evening fluctuating between joy and worry. It had been ages since he had made a new friend his own age, and he had loved hanging with Seb yesterday afternoon. But a part of him was still worried about boundaries; after all, he was the choreographer and Miss Jenn’s assistant, and he wasn’t quite sure it was appropriate for him to be hanging out with one of the show’s stars.

However, the text he’d received from Miss Jenn late in the evening had calmed his nerves. Since she’d seen him talking with Seb after the aborted rehearsal yesterday, surely she would’ve said something if she’d thought it was inappropriate. But her text was just a friendly reminder that they had a “production meeting” together before school tomorrow, so Carlos went to sleep relieved, knowing the next day would be getting off to a good start.

Holding the two hot drinks aloft as he walked down the hallway, he burst into Miss Jenn’s office announcing, “I brought you a—” before the sight of Seb in the room made him stop. “Seb! You’re here! I didn’t expect—I’m sorry. I didn’t bring you any coffee.”

Seb smiled, holding up a thermos. “It’s okay. I brought my own drink. Fresh from Bessie this morning.”

Carlos would’ve asked whether it was really safe to drink unpasteurized milk if he hadn’t been so concerned about the boy’s mere presence. As he handed Miss Jenn her drink, he asked, “So what’s this all about?”

The teacher smiled. “Go ahead and have a seat, Carlos. The three of us need to have a serious discussion.”

He knew it!!

“It’s all MY fault, Miss Jenn!” Carlos blurted out, leaning forward in his chair. “I’m the one that started the conversation yesterday, so you shouldn’t blame Seb. And if you’re going to punish anyone, it should be me because I’m production staff and I should’ve known better than to fraternize with a castmember, and I promise it won’t happen again.”

Seb was simply staring at him, perplexed, but Miss Jenn gave a laugh.

“Oh sweetie, there’s nothing wrong with friends hanging out together after rehearsal. And production staff have been ‘fraternizing’ with their casts since theatre began—how do you think Gwen Verdon ended up starring in all of Bob Fosse’s shows?”

At the mention of the choreographer, Seb leaned over and excitedly mentioned to Carlos, “I looked up _Darn Yankees_ last night. We’ll have to discuss it later!”

Carlos would’ve commented on Seb’s G-rated _Damn Yankees_ rewrite if he hadn’t still been so concerned about this meeting.

“So if you’re not worried about us hanging out, Miss Jenn, why are we in trouble?”

The teacher shook her head. “Why on earth would you think you were in trouble?”

“Because you said we had something serious to talk about.”

“We do. But it’s nothing bad. And you’re not in trouble.”

Carlos was totally confused. And for a change, Seb didn’t appear to be; instead, he was just sitting there, patiently smiling at Miss Jenn, waiting for her to continue.

Carlos was anything but patient right now. “So what’s there to discuss?”

Miss Jenn sighed, clasping her hands together on her desk. Turning to the blond boy, she began, “Seb, I want to start by saying that you are doing an amazing job as Sharpay. The moment you step on that stage, you command everyone’s attention. You obviously know the character, and I can’t wait for everyone to see you shine.”

Seb beamed, although his cheeks were pink. “Thanks.”

But Carlos sensed something more coming. “But—?” he prompted.

Miss Jenn nodded. “But...we’ve never really had a conversation about you and Sharpay, and that’s on me.”

Carlos had no idea where this conversation was going.

Apparently Seb didn’t either for he merely shrugged. “Okay.”

Miss Jenn sighed again. “I should’ve done this at the read-through, but Natalie not being there totally threw me, and Big Red’s reading was just so—” She waved her hand, saying, “Doesn’t matter. What matters is, I never asked you your pronouns.”

“Mine?” Seb asked, looking around as if she were addressing someone else.

Miss Jenn nodded, and Carlos realized he’d never asked either. Had he been misgendering his new friend this whole time? Why hadn’t Seb said something?

But Seb nonchalantly answered, “He/him.”

Carlos was about to let out a relieved breath before Seb went on. “But...is it weird that I feel guilty saying he/him?”

Miss Jenn shook her head. “Seb sweetie, you should never feel guilty about who you are.”

Seb smiled and nodded, but Carlos could tell the guilt was still there. Was it because Seb liked to wear his sister’s ruby slippers and do Sharpay’s dance moves? Seb could still be a boy and enjoy those things—that’s what was so great about the theatre.

“Now that we’ve established YOUR pronouns,” Miss Jenn went on, “we need to discuss Sharpay’s. As you may have noticed, there’s no consistency, and again that’s on me. A third of the cast are reading their lines as is, another third are automatically changing them to he/him, and the rest are stumbling with strange combos of sh-they and hih-them.” Miss Jenn looked at Seb and asked, “As Sharpay, what are your thoughts?”

Seb licked his lips, which Carlos was starting to recognize as a sign that the boy was seriously contemplating something. Finally he said, “I think my Sharpay’s a they?”

Miss Jenn smiled and gave a relieved sigh. “Okay, good. That’s what I thought, but I wanted to make sure we were all on the same page.” She turned to Carlos. “Can you make sure that Natalie emails the cast so everyone can make the changes in their scripts—IN PENCIL!” she frantically added, since they were going to have to erase and return the scripts once the show was over.

Carlos nodded. He’d been wondering why he’d been asked to this meeting. Was it because, as the assistant director for the production, he should be involved with these character decisions? Or was it because he was Miss Jenn’s assistant, and she needed him to do things for her besides pick up her matcha before school?

Whatever the reason, Carlos now got out his phone. He had the entire cast list in a group chat, but such cast-wide announcements needed to come from the stage manager, so he quickly sent Natalie the message.

When he looked back up, Miss Jenn was pulling out her own phone. “I received this last night from Tanya,” she stated.

Carlos rolled his eyes—the head costumer was one of those seniors who thought her sht didn’t stink, and he was glad that he didn’t have to deal with her much.

Having found the message, Miss Jenn turned her phone towards the boys. The screen showed a frilly turquoise dress.

“That’s pretty,” Seb said with a smile as Carlos asked, “What’s it for?”

“Tanya was thinking of this for ‘Bop to the Top.’”

Seb replied with a simple “Oh” before realizing the implications. “OH!”

Miss Jenn nodded, putting the phone back on her desk. “I myself wasn’t envisioning full-out Drag Race, but I wanted to get your opinion.”

Carlos could see his friend was struggling to answer, so he prompted, “If you don’t like it, Seb, just say so.”

Seb shrugged, obviously finding it hard to say no to a teacher. “I’ll wear it if you want me to.”

“But do YOU want to?” Miss Jenn asked, and Seb quickly shook his head.

“But...I still want to be pretty,” he said bashfully, his cheeks once again turning pink.

Miss Jenn smiled. “I think that’s definitely doable, sweetie. And I was thinking of asking Kourtney—you know Kourtney, right?”

Seb smiled. “Of course. She’s Nini’s best friend, and she was super supportive during _Brigadoon_.”

“Well, I was thinking of taking Tanya out of the loop and asking Kourtney to be in charge of your costumes and make-up. What would you think of that?”

Seb beamed and nodded ecstatically.

Miss Jenn turned to Carlos, raising an expectant eyebrow.

He got the hint. “I’ll send her a message.”

So yes, he was here as Miss Jenn’s assistant.

But he was okay with that.

* * *

Seb had been both looking forward to and dreading this afternoon’s dance rehearsal all day. He was looking forward to showing Carlos how much he’d been practicing his new dances on his own...and was dreading that the choreographer might not notice much improvement.

At lunch, he had asked about playing piano for rehearsal, at least for the numbers he wasn’t in, but Carlos had indicated he was just going to use the recordings today. Yet as soon as Seb arrived at rehearsal, he headed straight for the piano without thinking. Once seated on the bench, he thought it might look weird to move so he remained. Besides, being at the piano gave him a good view of the room...and kept him out of the way of any errant basketballs!

It had been over a week and a half since they had run “Getcha Head in the Game,” and it was clear to Seb that the Wildcats had not been practicing in their barns every night because the dance was a mess. Carlos had only blocked out 30 minutes on the schedule for this first number, but obviously it was going to take much longer.

Those not in the number eventually grew bored, sitting doing nothing for nearly 40 minutes, and they started to move about the perimeter of the room, making sure to stay under the radar of the cranky choreographer. Soon Seb found Ashlyn casually sliding onto the piano bench next to him.

He was surprised to see her, since he didn’t think she was in any of the dances. “Were you called?”

Ashlyn nodded. “Ms. Darbus is only in the finale, but Carlos said we might get to it today.”

EJ suddenly kicked his basketball in their direction, and Seb and Ashlyn both automatically ducked. Luckily the ball bounced off the back of the piano...and into Addie, who lost control of her own ball.

“Though at this rate,” Ashlyn commented, “we’re probably not gonna get to it.”

Seb nodded, realizing they were already well behind schedule. He wondered if Ashlyn would be frustrated if she ended up having to sit through the entire rehearsal without dancing, especially since she seemed to really enjoy dancing. “I’m sorry you don’t get to dance more in this show.”

The girl shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s totally worth it to play Darbus.”

Seb smiled, though he personally didn’t see the appeal of the character.

Ashlyn went on, “So I understand you found Natalie’s hamster yesterday.”

Seb shook his head. “We only delivered it—Miss Jenn found it.”

“We?!” Ashlyn asked dramatically, looking inquiringly over her Darbus glasses.

Seb nodded. “Me and Carlos.”

Ashlyn smiled, giving a knowing, “Oh!”

She might’ve said more had she not being interrupted by Carlos’s “No no no!”

They looked over just in time to see a basketball bouncing out the door.

“I should probably…,” Ashlyn began, and Seb nodded. The girl stood and ran out into the hallway to retrieve the ball. When she returned, she tossed it to her cousin and then remained in the doorway, clearly appointing herself as goalie.

A short time later, despite rehearsal being a “phone-free zone,” Seb was surreptitiously staring down at his own phone to pass the time when Nini suddenly appeared on the piano bench next to him. He immediately put his phone away, realizing his friend needed his full attention. He hadn’t really gotten a chance to talk to her since yesterday, other than a few check-ins via text.

“How are you doing?” he asked.

Nini gave an angry sigh. “I really wish I didn’t have to spend all afternoon staring at my ex.”

As if on cue, EJ again lost track of his ball, but luckily Ashlyn stopped it with her foot and kicked it back to him.

Seb turned to see Nini smirking. “Though I admit I am enjoying seeing him mess up. You know—schadenfreude.”

The two suddenly started singing loudly, “ _Schadenfreude, making me—_ ”

Carlos’s angry glare made them both instantly stop singing and start giggling.

Nini then leaned close, quietly finishing the musical phrase, “ _—feel glad that I’m not you!_ ” pointing at the senior on the final word.

Seb nodded, still thinking about her earlier comment. “So...’ex’?”

Nini nodded firmly, glaring across the room at the guy who was once again attempting to dribble his basketball. “We’re done.” She then turned to Seb, adding, “Did you know that he actually poisoned someone for me? Who does that?”

Seb shrugged. He’d never really trusted the guy, but she probably didn’t want to hear that right now. So instead he offered, “Maybe he thought he was being nice?”

“Not you, too!” Nini shot back angrily. “Why does everyone make excuses for him?”

Seb frantically shook his head before putting a comforting hand on her knee. “You know I’m on your side.”

Nini gave a loud sigh. “I just wish there didn’t have to BE sides.”

Seb nodded, and suddenly Carlos’s comment from yesterday flashed in his mind: “Stupid hetero drama!” The choreographer had been dead on, and Seb couldn’t help but smile.

“What are you smiling at?” Nini teased, clearly not angry, just bemused by his reaction.

Seb shrugged, obviously not wanting to explain the true source of his amusement. “Just...something Carlos said,” he replied nonchalantly, hoping she didn’t ask for more details.

Instead Nini smiled, giving a knowing “Oh!”

But before she could say more, Carlos shrieked as an errant basketball headed straight for his face. Swatting it away, he announced, “Okay, that’s it! No more basketballs today! Let’s move on!”

“To what?” Ashlyn asked eagerly, stepping away from her goalie position in the open doorway, clearly hoping she’d get a chance to actually dance today.

Unfortunately Carlos had other plans. “Let’s do ‘Stick’. The only thing that flies through the air in that number is Seb.”

Now it was Nini’s turn to give a comforting pat to Seb. He shot her a nervous look as he stood up, desperately hoping he didn’t go the way of the basketballs.

  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Yesterday’s rehearsal had been a disaster. Clearly they’d desperately needed the all-day dance review last Saturday because everyone had forgotten absolutely everything. Of course, Carlos had HAD to cancel that rehearsal because he’d needed to teach Rico and Seb their new dances. But without the review of the other dances, and delaying doing the chorus numbers for several extra days, everyone had become more than just rusty. So really this was all Chuck’s fault for having drugs in his locker in the first place!

However, Carlos had forgotten what removing Rico from those numbers would do to the formations. He’d ultimately decided to leave Rico in “Getcha”—the dancer could actually handle a basketball, unlike some people Carlos could name, and who was going to recognize Ryan without his hat anyway. But that wasn’t going to work for “Stick,” which meant that all the formations had had to be reworked, which meant he’d spent the rest of yesterday’s rehearsal doing just that.

So while Carlos was furious with the Wildcats for not having retained any of the basketball techniques he’d taught them, the rest of the cast was furious with HIM for not getting to their dances.

Even Seb had been clearly disappointed that they hadn’t gotten to his part in “Stick,” but being Seb, the boy hadn’t complained—or even stopped smiling—which had just made Carlos feel even worse.

So the choreographer had finished yesterday’s rehearsal by promising, “Tomorrow we’ll start with the end of ‘Stick’ and then go straight into ‘We’re.’”

But Ashlyn had corrected, “No we won’t—tomorrow’s a scene rehearsal.”

So now Carlos was going to have to wait a whole extra day to redeem himself.

And while he was not looking forward to today’s scene rehearsal, he WAS looking forward to meeting up with Seb briefly beforehand. The boy had texted him before last period, saying he’d discovered a Kpop baseball dance number he just had to share—apparently after the videos they’d watched together and “ _Darn” Yankees_ , Seb’s youtube feed was now suggesting its own baseball songs. Eager to start rehearsal off on that sort of positive note, Carlos hurried to the bomb shelter, heading straight for the piano…

...and stopping short when he saw Ashlyn sitting alone on the bench instead.

“Where’s Seb?” he asked, not even bothering to greet the girl.

“Miss Jenn sent Natalie off with Rico somewhere to go over Ryan’s blocking.”

Carlos gave a frustrated sigh. It made sense—Rico had spent every rehearsal since becoming Ryan learning dances, so obviously he needed time to learn his scenes as well. And he spent every scene with Sharpay, so of course Seb would be with him for that.

But Carlos had really been looking forward to watching that baseball number...and seeing Seb’s smiling face.

But Ashlyn must’ve thought his frustration was with her for she quickly apologized, “I’m sorry I’m not a very good accompanist. Sight reading is not my strength. Luckily I don’t think we’re doing too much music today, but I sat here, just in case.”

Carlos nodded, momentarily distracted by the squealing of several girls, who were now jumping up and down and hugging Addie. He was about to ask Ashlyn if she knew what it was about when he overheard the girls talking—after all, they were theatre kids and thus their voices carried.

“So what are you going to wear?” / “Isn’t Homecoming semi-formal?” / “What exactly is semi-formal anyway?” / “I’m guessing somewhere between Eponine and Cosette.” / “I think it’s more Act One finale of _Mamma Mia!_ ” / “The wetsuits?!” / “No! That’s AFTER intermission.”

Carlos heard Ashlyn give a snort, but he merely rolled his eyes. He’d heard similar conversations all over the halls ever since the posters for Homecoming had gone up two days ago. Frankly, he was kind of bitter about the school dance; Miss Jenn had insisted they cancel next Friday’s dance rehearsal to allow people time to get ready, which meant Carlos was losing yet more rehearsal time, which was desperately needed right now.

“So, are you going to Homecoming?”

Carlos turned back to Ashlyn, giving her a wary look.

“Don’t freak—I’m not ‘asking you’ asking you,” she quickly explained. “I was just confirming I’d see you there. I figured we could do a theatre kids table or something.”

Carlos shook his head, wrinkling his nose at the thought. “I wasn’t planning on going. It’s not really my thing.”

“Really?! I figured you’d jump at any opportunity to dance. I know I do.”

Carlos wondered if this was some sort of dig about yesterday. “Look, I’m sorry we didn’t get to your dance number yesterday, okay?” he said, sounding more defensive than he’d meant to; he was just in a rotten mood because Seb wasn’t here.

But Ashlyn just laughed it off. “No worries! The basketball and cafeteria numbers clearly needed more attention, since EJ’s head was so obviously not in the game. You know, I don’t often say this, but I kind of feel bad for my cousin right now, even though he totally brought this on himself. Serves him right for getting so weirdly jealous about Nini—that boy needs to learn that dating someone doesn’t mean you own them.” She sighed, rolling her eyes, before giving a dismissive laugh. “Stupid hetero drama, right?”

Carlos gasped as he heard his own phrase being echoed back. “Where did you hear that?!”

“Seb. We had a lot of downtime during rehearsal yesterday—not that I’m blaming you for that!” she quickly added.

But Carlos felt weirdly uncomfortable with the idea that Seb would randomly be telling people things he said. Had the boy also mentioned the fact that Carlos found Ashlyn’s cousin hot? Could Seb be trusted with ANY secrets?!

“I’m thinking of making t-shirts with the phrase,” Ashlyn was now saying with a twinkle in her eye. “Rainbow lettering, maybe the words in the shape of a heart. I bet we could make a fortune selling them at the dance. So what do you think? Do you want in on my get-rich-quick scheme?”

Carlos laughed and was about to answer when Miss Jenn came rushing in. “Carlos, I’ve sent Natalie off with the Evans twins, so I’m going to need you to follow along in the script today in case people need their lines.”

Carlos nodded and hurried over to his seat next to the director, pulling his script out of his backpack.

Miss Jenn was already directing traffic. “We’re starting with scene 19, people. I need the basketballers on stage right and the Scholastic Decathlon folks on stage left.”

As the cast got up to walk to their assigned areas, Nini, EJ, and Ricky almost collided, resulting in awkward glares all around. As they cleared center stage, Carlos saw Ashlyn eyeing him over the piano. She mimed the shape of a big heart across her chest as she mouthed the words, “Stupid hetero drama.”

Carlos couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that Seb had shared that phrase with Ashlyn.

But if Seb had shared anything about his crush, Carlos wouldn’t think twice about killing him.

* * *

Their blocking rehearsal was not going at all like Seb had expected.

Natalie was always commenting that “dancers are the jocks of the theatre world,” but Rico didn’t fit that stereotype at all. Not only was he smart, he was also a dedicated actor. He was very Method: he’d written up a character background for himself over the weekend, which of course delved deep into Sharpay as well, and he was eager to share his theories on the origins of the twins’ competitive relationship.

Which was the other thing that was surprising—Seb had rarely heard Rico say more than two words at any of their dance rehearsals. Apparently there was a reason for that: Rico had had it drilled into him at an early age (he’d started dance lessons at three!) that a dancer was just a cog in the musical wheel and therefore shouldn’t speak up or have opinions. But when it came to acting, Rico was a total chatterbox. He wanted to know his motivation for every word and every move, and he didn’t hesitate to offer his own motivations as well.

This stark contrast in personality inspired Seb to suggest that the Evans twins themselves should have such a contrast. The blocking they had created Saturday for “What I’ve Been Looking For” showed a cutthroat competition between them, yet most of the show involved the twins working together to achieve their goals. So as not to look like an inconsistency, Seb suggested they analyze the script and figure out exactly when they should be competing versus when they should show a united front.

“You know that the audience doesn’t care, right?” Natalie asked, clearly impatient that their blocking rehearsal was progressing so slowly.

“They’ll care of we do it poorly,” Rico insisted.

Seb was shocked. No one ever talked back to Natalie—after all, she was their stage manager!

Luckily Natalie didn’t seem angry, just annoyed, and Seb was used to Natalie being annoyed.

So he and Rico resumed their character analysis of the script, jotting down notes in the margins (in pencil, as per Miss Jenn’s instructions!) As they got to each scene, Natalie would read her official blocking notes, indicating where Rico should go (well, at least where he should go on the stage!), and then their in-depth analysis would begin.

When they got to “Stick to the Status Quo,” Seb assumed there would be nothing to discuss, since they’d already choreographed the song, but Rico asked, “Why aren’t we together to begin with?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Ryan and Sharpay are together in almost every other scene. But at the beginning of this song we’re on opposite sides of the stage as we climb the stairs to the balcony. Why?”

Seb knew the theatrical reason—it gave a nice symmetry to the action and helped draw the audience’s attention to the twins prior to Sharpay’s “Everybody quiet!” But Rico was so Method, it was clear that this explanation wouldn’t be enough for him.

So Seb tried to think of a character-based answer. “It’s lunch, so maybe Ryan and Sharpay are like arriving at the cafeteria from different directions—surely they don’t have all their classes together, right?”

“But why not meet up first and climb the stairs together?”

Seb shrugged, trying to make it work. “Perhaps they...well, they’re twins, right? And can’t twins like...read each other’s minds or something? So they automatically mirror each other’s actions?”

As soon as the words were out, Seb and Rico shared an excited look and spontaneously started flipping back in their scripts to their first scene, eager to incorporate this new character bit into all their interactions.

Natalie, however, put her head in her hands, mumbling, “Kill me now.”

Seb and Rico were still only in Act 1 when Carlos appeared in the doorway, asking anxiously, “Where are you guys?”

Seb looked up, smiling at the sudden appearance of his new friend. “Miss Jenn sent us to teach Rico his blocking.”

“Well, Miss Jenn just sent me to find out what was taking so long,” Carlos said impatiently. “It’s not like you have that many scenes.”

Natalie nodded towards Rico. “He’s Method!” she said with disgust.

Carlos shook his head. “I don’t care if he’s Stanislavski; Miss Jenn needs them back in rehearsal now. We just found out the classroom set isn’t going to have as many desks as we’d hoped, so she needs to reblock those scenes.”

“Thank God,” Natalie said, immediately making her exit.

“But what about the rest of Ryan’s blocking?” Seb asked as he and Rico stood up, gathering their things. “We’re not even to Act 2 yet.”

Carlos shrugged. “I guess you’ll just have to find some other time.”

Rico nodded and hurried out, but Seb wasn’t in a particular rush. However, when Carlos started impatiently tapping his foot, Seb decided not to zip up his backpack and simply threw it over his shoulder.

“Rico’s going to be so much fun to work with,” Seb exclaimed as he and Carlos headed down the hall. “We came up with all these great ideas about twincentric character bits, which of course we’ll clear with Miss Jenn, but I think they’re going to add a whole other layer to our relationship.” Seb stopped, noticing Carlos seemed upset. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” Carlos snapped back, making it clear he WASN’T okay.

Seb gave him a concerned look. “Is rehearsal not going well?”

“It’s going fine, except we needed you and Rico, and you two were just off chatting.”

So apparently Carlos’s anger was with him, but Seb couldn’t figure out why, since he’d only been doing what Miss Jenn had asked.

Well, mostly.

“Like Natalie said, he’s Method,” Seb explained. “So he doesn’t just need to know the blocking; he needs to understand it and make it his own. He needs to like BE the character. And since he’s going to be my twin, he thinks it’s important to bond like siblings.”

“Siblings?” Carlos repeated.

Seb nodded. “Apparently he has three sisters in real life, and one of them is like a total drama queen, so he totally gets Sharpay. And of course he gets Ryan’s obsession with dancing—did you know he’s been dancing since he was three?! Three!! He must’ve been like Sophie in _Mamma Mia!_ ” And Seb started to sing, “ _Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk.”_

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Seb stole a glance at Carlos. His friend no longer looked upset, which made Seb feel better. He didn’t like it when people were upset with him.

Though he suddenly remembered a reason Carlos should be upset.

“Oh, and I didn’t forget! I’ll show you that Kpop baseball dance video after rehearsal. You’re gonna love it!”

Carlos gave him a smile as he opened the door to the rehearsal room, and Seb grinned back, now eager for rehearsal to end.

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

Carlos had promised the cast that they’d start the next dance rehearsal with the big ensemble numbers, but Miss Jenn had something else in mind. She had yet to watch the new Evans twins choreography and was eager to see what Carlos had done.

“Let’s start with the twins’ audition song,” Miss Jenn announced.

Carlos suddenly grew nervous. What if Miss Jenn didn’t like what they’d come up with? What if it was too over-the-top? What if the audience laughed for the wrong reasons?

But his fears were all for naught. The silly choreography set just the right tone, and the audience smiled and chuckled at all the right spots. Rico and Seb had even added in a few tiny moments when, despite their competition, the twins were automatically mirroring each other, which added a nice touch.

And when Sharpay, desperate for attention, started coyly stripping their red vest over their shoulder, the audience lost it. They continued to laugh through to the end, when they gave the twins a standing ovation.

“I love it!” Miss Jenn said. “Carlos, you’ve truly out-done yourself.”

Carlos beamed proudly but quickly stated, “It was a group project. Seb and Rico came up with most of the moves.”

“We were just improvising,” Seb jumped in. “Carlos was the one who put it all together.”

Leave it to Seb to make sure Carlos got all the credit.

“Should we see ‘Bop to the Top’ next?” Miss Jenn asked.

Although the other students had clearly enjoyed watching the routine, Carlos knew they’d rather be dancing themselves, so he quickly interjected, “Let’s work on ‘We’re’ next—I had an idea for Sharpay’s curtain call.”

Rico was already blocked into the finale as a dancer, so instead of changing all his positioning, Carlos could just bring Seb in for his bow with Rico and not have to readjust everything. Besides, working on the finale now meant that Ashlyn wouldn’t get stuck not dancing at yet another rehearsal.

Miss Jenn nodded for him to proceed, and Carlos turned to the rest of the cast. “Okay, let me have...Kaden, Chris, and Kaison, please.” He figured four should be enough—Seb wasn’t that heavy.

As the three boys made their way towards the rehearsal space, Seb shot Carlos a questioning look, which the choreographer ignored.

“Ryan, let’s put you on Sharpay’s left, and then you other three get behind,” Carlos directed, mostly making it up as he went. “Seb, bend your arms like this. Now Rico, grab hold of his elbow and under his arm and Kaden, grab his upper arm and his ribs. Now Kaison, hand on his waist—no, other hand, because you’re going to grab his leg with—”

Seb quickly stepped forward, shaking off the boys’ hands, his cheeks pink with embarrassment.

“What are you doing?” Carlos asked.

“That’s my question,” Seb said, his eyes wide.

“They’re going to lift you horizontally and carry you onstage.” Seb did not look convinced, so Carlos put his hands on Seb’s shoulders, insisting, “Trust me—it’ll look very Sharpay!”

But Seb frantically shook his head. “I’m not sure—“

“Are you afraid of heights?” Carlos asked, wondering if that was the problem.

“No, but—“

“Then you’ll be fine,” Carlos said, pushing Seb back towards the boys, who instantly put their hands back on him. “Okay, so lift your right leg, Seb, and Kaison, you grab his thigh while Chris grabs his ankle for now, though you’ll need to switch to his other leg when he kicks up.”

Chris nodded, and Carlos stepped back, taking a critical look at the distribution of hands versus Seb’s center of gravity. “Kaden, you’ll probably want to rotate your right hand and bring it in closer to his waist. And Kaison, go ahead and grab farther up his thigh.”

Seb’s eyes bugged, and Carlos finally realized why the boy was freaking out. But it was too late to switch positions now without drawing attention, so Seb would just have to deal.

“Okay, now on the count of three, Seb, you’re going to kick up your other leg, which Chris will grab, and then everyone needs to lift in unison. The trick to this, Seb, is you need to hold yourself stiff.”

The look that Seb shot him, along with the various snickers amongst the cast, made Carlos realize his word choice had not been ideal. Not wanting to embarrass Seb further, he quickly explained, “It’s the difference between carrying a mattress and a box springs. A mattress is unsteady and awkward; be the box springs.”

Seb nodded, but his cheeks were almost as red as his vest.

“Okay, on 1, 2, 3.”

Seb attempted to kick his other leg up, but Chris wasn’t able to grab it quickly enough.

“Chris, go ahead and crouch down some to start. And Seb, lean your weight into Rico before you kick up—that should help distribute your weight better.”

They tried it a few more times, eventually lifting and holding Seb unsteadily above their heads.

“Be the box springs!” Carlos yelled, and Seb’s muscles instantly tightened, making the lift much steadier, though still a bit wobbly.

“Now, can you guys walk?”

As they stepped forward, Seb looked petrified, thus tightening his muscles even further, which was exactly what was needed. Carlos couldn’t help but smile, knowing how great Sharpay was going to look when Seb stopped being so nervous.

“Okay, now slowly lower them,” Carlos ordered. The landing was a bit rough, but Seb looked immensely relieved to be on the ground...and to no longer have Kaison’s hands in delicate places. “It needs some work, but that’ll do for now. At this point Sharpay and Ryan will bow together and then do something, if we need to fill more time, which we’ll figure out when we do it to the music. In the meantime, let’s figure out how to get into all that. Ashlyn, your bow is before the Evans twins, right?”

“Yes,” Ashlyn said, immediately standing up, clearly pleased that she’d actually get a chance to dance today.

“Then let’s have everyone who’s onstage for Ashlyn’s bow get in their places.”

As the other dancers stood and took their places, Carlos looked over at Seb and mouthed, “You okay?”

Seb’s face was still pink but he nodded.

Carlos smiled. He knew he’d owe Seb an apology after practice.

And maybe someday Seb would actually thank him!

  
  



	9. Chapter 9

Seb was eager to get to school early Saturday morning. He hadn’t really gotten to see Carlos much at yesterday’s scene rehearsal, as they’d both been busy doing their own things, so Seb was looking forward to chatting with his friend before rehearsal.

Of course, he’d forgotten that not everyone wakes up at 5 AM on Saturdays to milk cows, and now he was sitting by himself on a bench in front of the locked school, wishing he’d brought a warmer jacket. But at least he now had time to check out more dance numbers from _Darn Yankees_ (he simply couldn’t bring himself to say the actual title!)

“Seb!”

Carlos must’ve called his name several times before Seb looked up because the choreographer looked annoyed.

“Good morning,” Seb said with a big smile, pleased to see his friend.

“What are you doing?”

“Watching ‘Two Lost Souls’—the Muppets version,” Seb said, turning his phone around to demonstrate.

But Carlos frowned. “I mean, what are you doing here so early? Rehearsal doesn’t start for twenty minutes, and you’re not even called at 9.”

Seb shrugged, standing up and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “I thought you might want to practice the basketball number slower, after all the problems with EJ last week.” He knew how much it was helping him to have slower versions of “Bop to the Top” to rehearse to. “Besides, my family is mucking out the byre today, so I’d much rather be here.”

Carlos shot Seb a look as he fumbled with the keys to the school’s outer doors. “I have no idea what that sentence even means.”

“Mucking out the byre? It’s a nice way of saying cleaning the poop out of the cowshed.”

“So I shouldn’t take it as a big compliment that you’d rather be here,” Carlos teased as he successfully opened the door.

Seb laughed. “I actually don’t mind mucking it out. But given a choice….”

“You’d rather be here, watching me unlock doors and yell at EJ”

Seb nodded, following his friend into the dark school. It always felt weird, and a bit thrilling, to be in the dark, empty hallways on the weekend when no one else was around.

Not even a teacher.

“Is Miss Jenn coming today?” Seb asked.

“Of course. I just wanted to get here early so I could collect my thoughts before rehearsal.”

Seb suddenly realized what that meant. “Oh, if you want to be alone, I can totally—”

He turned to go, but Carlos stopped him. “Don’t. I’m glad you’re here. My thoughts were mostly going to be ‘What am I going to do with EJ?’ anyway.”

Seb grinned and teasingly elbowed Carlos, and the choreographer quickly defended, “I MEANT ‘what am I going to do with him in the dance?’ After Tuesday’s disaster, I’m worried that someone—namely me—may get hurt if his head’s not in the game today. But if you can play the song slow for us, that should definitely help.”

Seb beamed, happy to assist, and the two walked on through the halls.

“So,” Carlos began, “I started streaming _Smash_ last night.”

“So what do you think?” Seb asked, excited to hear his friend’s reactions.

“I think your parents were crazy to let you watch it at the time.”

Seb’s face fell. “What do you mean?”

“I mean it’s a really adult show, with so much sex! Karen’s boyfriend talks about Marilyn Monroe using her breasts to get men, the director sexually harasses Karen by trying to get her to sleep with him before her audition, and later he and Ivy totally fall into bed together. That’s pretty adult for an eight-year-old.”

But Seb’s mind was a blank. “I don’t remember any of that.”

Carlos laughed. “Really? It’s a huge part of it, and I’m only two episodes in.” Seb shook his head, and Carlos asked, “So what DO you remember?”

“I remember they were putting on a musical, and there were auditions and callbacks and dance rehearsals and, of course, baseball pants with glitter pinstripes.”

“Clearly those made a strong impression,” Carlos teased. “But you don’t remember anything else about the show?”

Seb licked his lips, considering. “I remember sitting on the couch watching it with my dad and us both thinking Megan Hilty was the prettiest thing ever. And I remember the theatre and how I wanted to be on that stage performing just like Marilyn. And I remember Christian Borle and Leslie Odom Jr. kissing.” He smiled at the happy memories.

“Leslie Odom Jr.?! As in Aaron Burr, won a Tony Leslie Odom Jr.?!”

Seb nodded. “He played one of the dancers in _Bombshell_. His character was from Boston, and when the show went there for previews, he got to bring his boyfriend home to meet his parents. I remember telling my dad I couldn’t wait to bring my boyfriend home to meet them.”

Carlos’s jaw dropped. “You told your dad that?!”

Seb nodded.

“When you were eight?!”

Seb nodded again, not sure why Carlos seemed so upset.

“And...your dad was okay with that?!”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t he be?”

“But...I thought...I mean, I guess I always assumed...aren’t you Mormon?!”

Seb nodded. “We don’t really say Mormon anymore, but yeah, we belong to the Church of Jesus Christ.”

“But I thought...doesn’t your church...I thought homosexuality was a big no-no with them.”

Seb shrugged. “As my parents always say, God made me and God doesn’t mess up.” And he’d heard them say it a lot these last few years.

Carlos shook his head. “Wow! I just...wow!”

Seb wasn’t sure what his friend meant, though he suddenly wondered if Carlos had a different relationship with his parents.

As they arrived at the bomb shelter door, Carlos went on. “You’re really lucky, you know that?”

“I am lucky,” Seb agreed. “I get to spend all day with you.” He smiled at his friend, who dropped the keys not once but twice before he was able to unlock the door.

Walking into the rehearsal room, Seb breathed in the mingled odors of dancer sweat, dusty curtains, bad paint, and deteriorating papier mache. It smelled exactly like he always imagined the theatre on _Smash_ smelled.

Like home.

Taking in a deep breath, Seb smiled, suddenly even more grateful not to be home mucking out the byre today.

* * *

Having Seb play “Getcha” at a slower tempo had been exactly what Carlos needed for this rehearsal. Of course, there were also fewer distractions today, since the other castmembers weren’t there to watch. Even Nini wasn’t called till later, which might explain why EJ was more focused. Whatever the reasons, the dance had shown real improvement at the slower tempos, and Seb was now playing it almost full-speed. Of course, the performers weren’t singing along yet, but they could work on that next week—right now they just needed to ensure that they weren’t going to hit anyone in the audience with stray basketballs.

Out of the corner of his eye, Carlos noticed when Nini arrived. She’d slipped inside and surreptitiously headed straight for the piano, clearly not wanting to distract either EJ or Ricky. Carlos rolled his eyes, the phrase “stupid hetero drama” once again running through his mind. He then smiled, remembering Ashlyn’s t-shirt idea...and the fact that he’d never told Seb about it.

Suddenly, without warning, Carlos felt EJ colliding with him, the basketball bouncing towards the door.

“Carlos, what happened?” Miss Jenn asked as the choreographer awkwardly caught his balance and ran after the retreating basketball.

And what could he say? He wasn’t even quite sure himself. He realized he must’ve just automatically started heading towards Seb to talk to him, without even noticing he was cutting across the dance floor.

“I...uh...I was going to...give Seb a note,” Carlos stammered, realizing it was best, in situations like this, to stick close to the truth.

“Couldn’t it wait, dude?” EJ asked as he grabbed the basketball out of the choreographer’s hands, clearly annoyed that his concentration had been broken.

And now Seb was looking anxiously at Carlos from the piano, obviously thinking he’d done something wrong to warrant an immediate note. The choreographer gave an annoyed sigh, frustrated that he’d caused all this drama by not having his own head in the game.

“Yes, sorry,” Carlos said. “Let’s...uh...let’s just take it again from where we were.”

But unlike normal, Seb didn’t start playing right away. Instead he just sat there next to Nini on the piano bench, staring across the room at Carlos, clearly wanting to get the choreographer’s note before proceeding.

Carlos realized he needed to make up something quickly, so he improvised, “And Seb, let’s do it full speed this time.”

“If we’re doing it full speed, can we start at the top?” Ricky asked.

Carlos nodded. “Good idea. Seb, from the top?” he requested, making sure to stand out of the way of the dancers as he nodded towards the piano player.

“And then we’ll take a quick break” Miss Jenn announced, and Carlos breathed a sigh of relief. It was time to move on to ‘Start,’ which meant they’d be able to release several of the dancers, including EJ.

“Let’s make this last time through count, people,” Carlos said.

Seb, having gotten his instructions, started playing the song up-to-speed from the beginning. The sound of all the balls bouncing on the tile floor in beat with the music was amazing, and Carlos knew it was all due to building up to this faster speed. He couldn’t wait to thank Seb for suggesting they rehearse at the slower tempo.

However, Carlos consciously planted his feet where he was, not wanting to approach the piano to talk to Seb until the number was safely over.

But during break he was definitely going to tell Seb about Ashlyn’s t-shirt idea.

* * *

Seb was so glad that he had come early to rehearsal today. Not only had his slow accompaniment helped the basketballers work out their dribbling issues, it had also assisted the dancers with handling all their crazy props in the karaoke number.

Seb had been surprised, though, to see Rico dancing in both numbers. He asked Carlos whether he was going to replace the dancer, but the choreographer had explained that it was easier to leave him in. “And no one’s likely to notice ‘Ryan’ without his hat on anyway.” Besides, Rico was an amazing dancer, which kind of went without saying, so Seb understood Carlos’s reluctance to remove him.

When rehearsal for “The Start of Something New” finished, Carlos dismissed everyone but Rico and Seb. After lunch, “Bop to the Top” was scheduled for the rest of rehearsal, and Seb was grateful that they wouldn’t have an audience for it. While he’d enjoyed showing the dance to their fellow castmates last Saturday, they hadn’t rehearsed it since, and Seb really needed to work on all the couples moves—dancing alone in his barn was just not the same thing as dancing with a partner.

“Enjoy your lunch,” Miss Jenn called out as she headed out into the hallway. “I’ll see you all back here in half an hour.”

The three boys grabbed their stuff and headed towards the cafeteria. Seb found it amusing that, after having not said more than three words at rehearsal so far today, Rico was suddenly chatting up a storm. Now that he was getting into the Ryan character, he wanted to understand his motivation for everything, including climbing the ladder at the end of “Bop to the Top”.

“Is it simply metaphorical, “the ladder of success” and all that? Or is he literally trying to outreach Sharpay in order to get Ms. Darbus’s attention?”

Seb shared a smile with Carlos, amused by the dancer’s constant motivation questions.

But as they passed a sign in the hallway, Rico suddenly changed topics. “Hey, how late is rehearsal scheduled for next Friday?”

“It’s not,” Carlos said, sounding a bit annoyed. “Miss Jenn made me cancel the dance rehearsal so that people would have time to go home first.”

Rico looked relieved, but Seb was simply confused. “Go home first?” he repeated.

His dance partner turned to him, simply stating, “Homecoming.”

Going home, coming home, what did it matter? Seb still didn’t understand what that had to do with canceling practice.

Luckily Rico went on. “Kaison’s taking Lauryn, and Steph decided to just go ahead and ask Kaden so that we could all get a table together. I know the girls wanted to hang out beforehand to do their hair or whatever, so they’ll be glad there’s no rehearsal.”

Oh. Homecoming. As in the dance.

“Are you guys going?” Rico asked.

Before either boy could answer, they turned the corner into the cafeteria…

...which was filled with students!

“What the…?” Carlos began, staring at the throng from the doorway where they’d all stopped.

Seb searched the crowd for familiar faces, trying to decipher what was going on. Suddenly he saw a perky girl, her rope twists pulled back in a high ponytail, heading their way.

“Seb! What are you doing here on a Saturday?”

“Hey, Lashondra,” Seb greeted warmly. Last year they’d shared five classes together, and since her last name was Matthews, they’d sat next to each other in all of them.

Though that didn’t explain why she was here now. “I could ask you the same thing.”

The girl put her hand on her hip, giving him a sassy look. “What do you think? The big Homecoming game is less than a week away. We have to be prepared, you know.”

Seb nodded, suddenly remembering her squeals of excitement when she’d made the cheerleading squad last year.

And now the overall brawniness of the male students currently in the cafeteria made sense.

“And you?” The girl gave Seb’s dance clothes a once-over and stole a quick look at the other boys before adding, “I’m guessing you’re not here for some FFA event.”

Seb shook his head. “Rehearsal. Which we like really need to get back to.” Much as he liked Lashondra, he didn’t relish the idea of being a tiny island of theatre kids sitting in a giant sea of footballers.

The girl looked crestfallen. “You sure you don’t want to join us? There’s plenty of room.”

“No, but thanks. It was great seeing you. And good luck next week. Break a...pom-pom or whatever.” He never knew what exactly the correct expression for non-theatre luck should be.

It obviously wasn’t “break a pom-pom” based on the look Lashondra was now giving him. “Thanks, I guess. And have fun with your rehearsing.”

Seb nodded. “We will. See you around.”

He turned, and the three theatre kids bolted, walking quickly away from the cafeteria without saying a word.

Once they were a safe distance away, Rico offered, “She seemed nice.”

But clearly that’s not what was foremost on Carlos’s mind. “What the hell is FFA?” Clearly he thought it was something bad, and based on the once-overs Lashondra had given all of them, Seb didn’t blame Carlos for thinking the worst.

But the acronym wasn’t bad, just embarrassing. “Future Farmers of America,” Seb admitted, feeling his cheeks flush. “Lashondra bought homemade ice cream from me at our fundraiser last year. And she used to tease me about my overalls all the time.” Though that’s not why he’d stopped wearing them—he’d simply grown several inches over the summer so they no longer fit.

Though overalls weren’t really conducive to dance rehearsals anyway.

Seb hadn’t been paying attention to where they’d been walking, but suddenly Carlos turned and entered an open office door. “Miss Jenn, mind if we eat in here with you?”

Seb breathed a sigh of relief. A part of him had felt stupid for fleeing the cafeteria so quickly, but Rico hadn’t said anything, and clearly Carlos had felt the need to return to the safety of the drama club, too.

And while Miss Jenn’s office was small and sparse, Seb couldn’t think of a nicer place for them to spend their rehearsal lunch break.

* * *

This was torture.

And not just for Carlos. Clearly Rico was frustrated as well.

Seb obviously felt the worst. And frankly he should.

Because it seemed like the more they rehearsed, the worse Seb got. Carlos knew the blond boy was a better dancer than this, but it was like he was too caught up in his own head…and from the interactions Carlos had had with him lately, he was certain there was plenty of room up there for him to get lost.

Though that wasn’t fair. Clearly Seb was trying. And while he was a decent-enough dancer, he hadn’t spent years training the way Rico had. And they hadn’t rehearsed this number for a week. And Seb had been busy teaching Rico his blocking and dealing with his annoying “what’s my motivation” questions for days.

But still, he shouldn’t be getting worse.

“No no no!” Carlos said, jumping up and practically shoving Seb out of the way so he could demonstrate. “You’re turning the wrong way—that’s why your arms keep getting all twisted. And don’t look back at your hand—it’s throwing off your balance. You just have to just trust that Rico will grab it. See?”

Seb nodded and stepped back into place. Carlos slowly counted, “5...6...7...8,” and the two perfectly executed the complicated spin. “Good. See? You can do it. Now again, but up to speed: 5-6-7-8!”

Seb instantly tensed up, a panicked look in his eyes, which no doubt explained why he forgot and turned the wrong way again.

“Sorry!” Seb said as he untwisted himself from Rico’s grip.

Carlos shook his head in frustration. _If only we could rehearse this slower_!

“We can,” Seb said, breaking away and heading for the piano.

Carlos realized once again that he’d said what he was thinking aloud—he really needed to stop doing that!

But he also needed to stop Seb, because having him play the piano instead of dancing was NOT what this rehearsal needed right now.

Luckily he didn’t say this last out loud because Seb had not been walking to the piano to play it; instead, he’d gone for his phone, which was next to his backpack on the piano bench. The boy was now walking back towards Carlos, flipping through his phone. “I recorded it at four different speeds,” he explained. “Should we start with the slowest?”

Carlos breathed a sigh of relief. This was exactly what this rehearsal needed, especially after working so well with the other two numbers this morning.

“Yes!” Carlos said, eagerly grabbing the phone out of Seb’s hands and hitting play.

Seb had already set up the Bluetooth so the sound came out of Carlos’s speakers. Only the sound wasn’t just the piano accompaniment—Seb’s voice was now blasting through the room, rhythmically chanting:

“Hop-hop-hop, rock-step turn. Slip and slip and sliiiide.”

“What is this?” Carlos asked as Seb rushed back to him.

“It’s the wrong track,” the blond boy said, his face bright pink, as he reached for the phone. “Let me—”

But Carlos was curious and instantly turned his back on Seb, clutching the phone tightly to his chest as the boy’s words continued over the speakers: “Kick-ball-change, down and up, hands right-left-right-left.”

“These are the steps!” Carlos said, recognizing the spoken moves said to the beat.

“It’s how I’ve been practicing,” Seb explained, frantically trying to wrest the phone from Carlos’s grip. “If you’ll just give it back—“

But Carlos was too amused and wanted to hear more, so he refused to hand over the phone, playfully turning to and fro in an effort to dodge Seb...until the phone was accidentally knocked out of his hands onto the ground. Carlos started to reach for it, but Seb had already scooped it up and turned off the music.

“Is your phone okay?” Carlos asked.

Seb was too busy scrolling to answer. After a quick moment, he handed the phone back to Carlos, a new track displayed on the screen…

...which was now cracked.

“Oh my God, I cracked your phone!” Carlos exclaimed.

Seb shook his head. “It’s fine. I found the right track, so let’s just do this.”

“Seb, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean—”

“I think now would be a good time for a break,” Miss Jenn said, standing up. “Boys, why don’t you get some water while I talk to Carlos for a minute.”

She was smiling, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes, and Carlos knew he was in trouble. He quickly followed Miss Jenn out into the hallway, explaining, “I didn’t mean to drop his phone. I’ll pay for it to be—”

“Carlos, that’s not why we need to talk.” She gave him a stern look, the one his mama usually gave him right before she started scolding in Spanish. “You need to lay off Seb.”

That’s not what he’d expected to hear. “What do you mean?”

Miss Jenn sighed. “I know you two have become friends, and I think that’s great, but you can’t treat him that way.”

“What way?!” Carlos asked, upset at being scolded. “He’s doing it all wrong. I have to—” Miss Jenn grabbed his elbow and pulled him farther away from the door, obviously worried that the boys inside would hear. Carlos lowered his voice as he continued, “I spent all of Tuesday’s rehearsal yelling at EJ and you didn’t have a problem with that.”

Miss Jenn gave him a look, clearly implying she did, and Carlos rolled his eyes. “I’m the choreographer. I want them to be good. Aren’t I allowed to correct them?”

“Correct them, yes, of course. But that’s not what you’re doing. You’re berating them. Especially Seb. These dance steps are still new to him, and he’s clearly trying. But the more you yell at him, the more he messes up. You’ve got to cut him some slack.”

“Slack?! He’s screwing up things now that he got right at the beginning of rehearsal!”

“And why do you think that is?” Miss Jenn asked, her voice still calm.

He opened his mouth to answer, but his teacher held up her hand to stop him. “Don’t answer it for me. Answer it for yourself.” She gave him a pointed look before walking back into the rehearsal room, leaving Carlos alone in the hallway.

Carlos gave a frustrated sigh. He couldn’t believe Miss Jenn had yelled at him like that. HE wasn’t the one screwing up the dance.

Though, come to think of it, she HADN’T yelled. She’d calmly and rationally pointed out his mistakes.

Which was certainly not what Carlos had been doing for Seb.

And now that he thought about it, he WAS being harder on Seb than he’d been on the others, even though the boy’s mistakes weren’t likely to end with a basketball in Carlos’s face.

But that’s because he wanted Seb to be good! He’d become friends with the boy—good friends—over this last week and a half. So he wanted Seb to be amazing, for Seb’s sake as well as his own. That was why he was being so hard on him.

Just like he’d be on himself.

And that’s when it hit him. Carlos had been yelling at Seb the way he yelled at himself. That inner voice that constantly critiqued every little thing he did: that’s what he’d been sounding like.

And he was desperately aware of how non-helpful that voice could be.

Like right now, as that voice started berating him for being such an awful friend.

But Carlos shook that aside. Since working with Miss Jenn, that voice had mostly been silent, and he wasn’t about to let it back in now.

Not when he’d made a new friend who was nice and talented and frankly kind of cute.

Carlos ignored this last thought and instead started thinking about what he could do to remedy this situation.

Obviously the first step was apologizing. So Carlos rushed back into the rehearsal room, relieved to find Seb smiling as he stood with Rico, both drinking from their water bottles. If Seb was still smiling, it couldn’t be all bad, right?

“Seb? Can I talk to you?”

Seb walked over, looking like he was about to face a firing squad, and Carlos felt his stomach wrench with guilt.

“Look, I’m really sorry I yelled at you. I know this is a lot, and I know you’re trying.”

Seb shook his head, clearly beating himself up over this. “I’m screwing it all up.”

“Not ALL of it!” Carlos insisted and then realized how bad that sounded. He quickly continued, “I mean, yes, it needs work. But let’s slow it down. Clearly that worked this morning, thanks to you.” Seb smiled, and Carlos felt a rush of relief.

Though thinking about the slow piano tracks reminded him. “And I’m SO sorry about your phone. I didn’t mean to crack the screen.”

“It’s okay.” Seb leaned in, a glint in his eye, as he confidentially admitted, “I’ve been planning to ask my parents for a new one anyway.”

Carlos laughed. “Then, you’re welcome?” he teased, and his heart leaped when Seb laughed.

“Okay,” Miss Jenn announced, clearly noting that they’d made up. “I think it’s time we start back up again, don’t you, Carlos?”

Carlos nodded, and Seb walked away to put his water bottle back down on the piano bench.

“Let’s try this again at the slower speed,” Carlos said, swiping the phone, only to find Sharpay’s smiling face staring back at him from the lockscreen.

Though it wasn’t the Sharpay HE cared about.

That one was now hurrying across the room, eager to unlock his phone so they could get started.

  
  



	10. Chapter 10

As Seb set his lunch sack down on the table, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He started to reach for it, but Natalie stopped him.

“It’s just from me. It’s a schedule update.” The stage manager rolled her eyes. “I swear, they change this schedule on an hourly basis.”

It was true that the schedule had been changing a lot. But Seb didn’t like hearing Carlos or Miss Jenn criticized, and he quickly defended, “It’s not their fault that they had to recast Ryan, and that’s what most of the rescheduling has been about. Carlos had to rechoreograph all our numbers and then teach them to us, so he had to rearrange things.”

Natalie rolled her eyes, mumbling, “You’re pathetic.”

“What?” Seb asked, wondering what he’d done.

“You guys should just go ahead and get together already.”

Seb had no idea what she was talking about. “What? Who?”

“You and Carlos. You clearly like each other.”

Seb laughed, though he could feel his cheeks turning pink. “What do you mean? I don’t like Carlos. I mean, I like Carlos, but I don’t LIKE Carlos.” He knew he sounded like a middle school girl, but how else was he supposed to say it?

Natalie raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. “Are you kidding? He’s all you ever talk about. Your face lights up at the mere mention of him...or anything even remotely related to him. I mean, I mention the schedule and you practically get giddy.”

Seb shook his head—clearly Natalie was confused, though he could guess where this was coming from. “You know, just because we’re the only two gay guys you know, it doesn’t mean we’re going to get together.”

Natalie snorted. “You think you’re the only two I know? Are you kidding? We do theatre. That’d be like saying you two are the only Sondheim fans I know.”

Seb beamed. “Carlos likes Sondheim, too?” _Into the Woods_ was his favorite show—he couldn’t believe the subject had never come up.

“See?!” Natalie said. “Your face just lit up like a freaking Christmas tree.”

Seb could feel the blush returning. “No, it didn’t.” Though he kind of had to admit it had.

And by the look Natalie was now giving him, she clearly knew he knew.

But it didn’t mean she was right.

“We’re just friends,” Seb insisted. “Besides, he’s not even my type.”

Natalie rolled her eyes. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“He’s not,” Seb said, his voice coming out much higher than he’d intended. He cleared his throat and added, in a taunting tone, “Besides, you don’t even know my type.”

Natalie laughed. “You mean Kaison?”

Seb gasped and frantically looked around, hoping none of the other theatre kids were within listening distance. He then leaned over, whispering, “How did you know?”

“You’re not exactly subtle.” Natalie must’ve noticed the look of horror on his face for she quickly added, “Don’t worry—it’s not like everybody knows. Well, about Kaison, I mean.”

Seb felt momentarily relieved...until he realized what her words implied.

“Everybody thinks Carlos and I like each other?” he asked, hoping he’d misinterpreted her.

Natalie nodded. “Uh...yeah!”

“But we’re just friends!” Seb insisted, upset that people were getting the wrong impression. “We have a lot in common, but that’s it. I mean, sure, we’ve been spending lots of time together lately, but that’s just because of the show. He’s been having to teach me all those new dances, but it’s not like that means anything. He just wants me to look good—I mean the DANCES to look good. It’s not personal—NONE of it’s personal. It’s all for the show. We don’t like each other that way.”

Natalie gave him a look. “Does the phrase ‘The lady doth protest too much’ mean anything to you?”

Seb stared at Natalie, confused at the sudden subject change. “What does _Hamlet_ have to do with any of this?”

Natalie laughed and patted Seb on the shoulder. “Times a’wasting, and lunch period isn’t that long. You’d best be eating your lunch…‘Sebpay’?” she said, reading the scrawled signature Seb had written on the outside of his lunch sack.

Seb’s cheeks flushed again as he quickly set his sack, signature side down, on the cafeteria table and pulled out his sandwich. “So...what are the schedule changes this time?” he asked, trying to sound nonchalant as he struggled to change the subject.

Luckily Natalie was willing to move on. “The choir teacher wants a day to work with everyone, so we’ll be doing that on Wednesday instead of dance rehearsal.”

Seb frowned—the last thing he wanted was for dance rehearsal to be canceled.

Though he was merely upset with the fact that they wouldn’t be reviewing “Bop to the Top” that day. It had nothing to do with the fact that it meant one less rehearsal with Carlos.

Really. It didn’t.

* * *

“Carlos!”

The choreographer stopped in the hallway and waited for Ashlyn to catch up with him.

“What’s up?” he asked as the girl caught her breath.

“I just wanted to confirm that you’re coming.” She must’ve noticed his blank look for she continued, “To Homecoming?”

Carlos shrugged. “The jury’s still out.”

“Just come,” Ashlyn said. “It’ll be fun. We can dance all night, and you won’t have to worry about any basketballs flying at your face.”

“What? EJ’s not bringing his prop like he did for auditions?”

Ashlyn laughed. “No. But...he is bringing a date,” she added awkwardly.

Carlos frowned. “I thought Seb said he and Nini broke up.”

“They did,” Ashlyn said with a nod. “So apparently he’s bringing Gina to the dance.”

“Oh, that won’t be awkward or anything.”

“Exactly! Which is why I don’t want to be alone with them all night. Please come!” she begged, desperately giving him puppy-dog eyes.

Carlos suddenly remembered Rico’s comments from Saturday. “But you shouldn’t be alone—I think all the dancers are going, Rico and Addie and them.”

“They are, but they already got their own table. So see, you have to come and rescue me.”

Carlos laughed. Ashlyn was about the last person who would ever need rescuing.

“I...don’t have a date,” he said, hoping that would get him out of it.

“Sure you do.” When Carlos raised a skeptical eye, Ashlyn explained, “With the dance floor,” as she did a little shimmy.

Carlos shrugged. He’d never been to a high school dance before, but he was pretty sure people without dates were looked at weird.

And he got enough weird looks as it was.

“Though,” Ashlyn continued, “I s’pose you could always ask Seb.”

“Seb?!” Carlos stared at the girl.

“Yeah.” She smiled knowingly and gave him a teasing nudge. “You guys make such a cute couple.”

“What?!” Clearly she’d lost her mind. “What exactly have you been smoking in the teachers lounge, Ms. Darbus?”

Ashlyn laughed. “I see the way you look at him. True, it’s not the way you look at my cousin, but—”

“WHAT?! I’m gonna kill him!”

Ashlyn laughed. “Who? EJ or Seb?”

But Carlos wasn’t listening. He was practically shaking with rage. How could Seb have betrayed his trust like this? And to EJ’s cousin, of all people! It was probably all over the drama club by now. _And he promised he wouldn’t say anything!_

“Seb didn’t say anything,” Ashlyn said. “I promise. And I haven’t either. I just...I observe people. It’s part of my process. And...you look at EJ the way EJ looks as EJ” She smiled and nudged Carlos. “But you look at Seb the way you look at the dance floor, like you wish they both could be a bigger part of your life than they already are.”

Carlos sighed. His anger was gone, replaced instead by...he wasn’t sure. Ashlyn’s words made a weird kind of sense. After all, ever since he’d started to get to know Seb, he’d wanted to know more, eager for this boy, who shared so many of his interests, to become a bigger part of his life. But that didn’t mean he liked him.

Did it?

“I suppose I could ask Seb as a friend,” Carlos said, but his imagination instantly started to gallop out of control. In less than two weeks, Seb had already become a huge part of his life—he was the first person Carlos texted when he woke up in the morning and the last one he texted at night. He was the first close friend Carlos had had in ages, and all that could be over in a flash if he asked him to the dance.

“But what if he says no? What if it ruins everything?”

“What if you twist your knee and can never dance again? ‘Kiss Today Goodbye’ and all that.”

Carlos gasped—how did Ashlyn know _A Chorus Line_ was his favorite musical? Maybe she was observant.

But did that mean she was right about Seb?

Ashlyn shrugged and went on. “Whatever you decide, I really hope you’ll come to the dance. It’ll be fun to just hang out, to dress up for a change and dance like no one is watching.”

Carlos frowned. “I’ve never understood that. Why would you NOT want people watching?”

Ashlyn laughed. “Okay, then we can dance like EVERYONE is watching. Just please come.” She started to walk away but then turned back to add, “And with EJ bringing Gina, our t-shirts are liable to be a big hit!” She teasingly mimed the heart design across her chest before heading off down the hallway.

Carlos smiled after her, thinking of the rainbow lettering she’d joked about.

Though his thoughts were no longer on “stupid hetero drama” but on something a little closer to home.

  
  



	11. Chapter 11

Seb had hoped to catch Carlos before rehearsal, since he needed to talk to him about tonight. His friend was just disappearing into the bomb shelter when Seb called out, “Carlos! Hold up.”

The choreographer stopped where he was and turned around towards Seb, after first giving an almost frantic look around the room. “What?”

”I just wanted to confirm that we’re still on for tonight,” Seb said with a smile. He was looking forward to spending time with his friend, even it if was just virtually and for school.

But Carlos wasn’t looking at him—the choreographer was looking past him, as if something terrifying was headed their way.

“Hey, guys,” Ashlyn said practically into Seb’s ear, causing him to jump. She put her hands on Seb’s shoulders in order to slip past him into the room, grinning at both of them.

Seb smiled at her, greeting, “Hey, Ashlyn.” He then turned back to Carlos, who still hadn’t answered...and had an almost panicked look on his face.

Maybe he’d forgotten about tonight.

“You promised you’d—” Seb started, but again Carlos’s attention was distracted, and suddenly Steph’s hands were on Seb’s shoulders. She gave them both a big smile as she, too, slipped inside.

Seb tried again. “Remember, you said we could—”

Again Seb felt hands on him, and this time they were Kaison’s.

“Way to block traffic, guys,” the boy teased, and Seb could feel his face flushing at the feel of the boy’s hands on him. He hoped Natalie hadn’t just seen this exchange, though it would’ve only confirmed what she apparently already knew.

Seb was worried he’d never get to the point, so this time he started, “My Spanish test is tomorrow, so—”

This time it was Carlos himself who cut Seb off. “I’m really sorry, Seb—I need to...go talk to Miss Jenn.”

Carlos rushed off towards their teacher, leaving Seb staring after him, feeling bewildered as to what had just happened.

“Seb,” Nini said into his ear, her hands suddenly on his shoulders, “you were a great tree, but you don’t make a very good door.”

“Huh?” His thoughts were still on Carlos so he hadn’t really listened to what she’d said.

“You’re blocking the doorway,” Nini said, gently pushing him off to the side, away from the door, so the rest of the cast could enter.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Seb said absently, his eyes still following the choreographer across the room.

But now Nini was staring intently at Seb. “Are you okay?” she asked, sounding worried.

Seb shrugged. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly.

Nini grabbed his elbow and quickly led him over to the piano bench. “What happened?”

“Carlos just totally blew me off.” He still couldn’t quite believe it.

Nini gave a frustrated sigh. “Boys! Amiright?” she teased.

Seb nodded. “He was supposed to help me study tonight for my Spanish test, but when I tried to ask him about it just now, he rushed off, saying he had to talk to Miss Jenn.”

Nini shrugged. “It’s rehearsal. You know how he gets. I’m sure it didn’t mean anything.”

“But I’ve been watching him, and he still hasn’t even said hello to Miss Jenn. I think that was just an excuse to get out of talking to me.” Nini patted his knee as he added, “I don’t even know what I said wrong.”

“I’m sure you didn’t say anything wrong.” Seb tried to give an acknowledging smile, but clearly he didn’t pull it off for Nini threw her arms around him, saying, “I’m sorry. You really like him, don’t you?”

Not her, too. “We’re just friends.” Nini pulled back from the sideways hug to give him a look and he repeated, “Really! I don’t like him like that.”

Nini shrugged, pulling him close once again. “Right, of course you don’t. Because I’m sure you’d get this upset if I didn’t say hi to you in the hallway or something.”

Now it was Seb’s turn to pull back from the hug. “When did you not say hi to me?”

Nini laughed. “I’m just saying that I think he might mean more to you than just a friend. I mean, think about it. You’re happy when he’s around and sad when he’s not.” She gave a sigh, suddenly looking sad herself.

This seemed to snap Seb out of it, realizing that he’d been so busy with his own stuff, he hadn’t checked in with her in awhile. He put his hand on his friend’s knee, asking, “And how are YOU doing?”

Nini nodded. “Okay. The blind rage is mostly gone, which means I’m kinda just left with the emptiness.” She took a steeling breath and sat up a little straighter. “I figure if I can just get through Friday, I’ll be fine.”

“Friday?”

“Homecoming.”

Seb nodded. He wasn’t sure why he kept forgetting about the dance. Probably for the same reason he kept forgetting about the football game that went with it—they weren’t school activities that had anything to do with him.

But the dance would’ve had something to do with Nini, if EJ hadn’t stolen her phone.

“I’m sorry,” Seb said.

Nini nodded. “Me, too. I even bought a new dress for it.”

Seb smiled. “Is it cute?”

Nini nodded. “Super cute. I’ll text you a pic later.”

Seb wasn’t really sure how Homecoming worked but he offered, “Could you go anyway? Like with Kourtney? Wear your dress, dance your troubles away?”

“Find another cute boy to take my mind off of everything?” Nini added with a smile. “Yeah, maybe I’m ready for that. Though who’s to say another boy wouldn’t be just as stupid?”

Seb laughed, repeating back to her, “Boys! Amiright?”

Nini laughed. “Definitely right!”

“Okay, people, let’s get started,” Carlos said to the room, yet somehow pointedly ignoring Seb and Nini. “We’ve got a lot to get done today. EJ, Ricky, let’s start with your hallway scene.”

As the two actors made their way past the choreographer onto the rehearsal stage, Seb and Nini shared a look, mouthing the word “Boys!” before dissolving into giggles.

* * *

Carlos grabbed Ashlyn before she could leave and dragged her away from the doorway where all their castmates were now exiting.

“What’s up?” Ashlyn asked with a smile.

But Carlos was not smiling. “Thanks for ruining everything.”

“Um...hello to you, too?”

But Carlos didn’t have time for pleasantries. “Seb’s upset with me, and it’s all your fault.”

Ashlyn frowned. “He’s upset because you asked him to Homecoming?”

“No! I didn’t ask him!”

Ashlyn’s frown deepened. “So he’s upset because you DIDN’T ask him to Homecoming?”

“No! He’s upset because I freaked out before rehearsal because I was convinced everyone was staring at us. But of course he thought I was freaking out because of him, and I couldn’t exactly tell him why I was freaking out, so now he’s upset with me.”

Instead of feeling contrite, Ashlyn was actually smiling. “There’s no reason to freak out,” she said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “No one actually cares about you.”

That was like a knife to the back. “Ouch! Now I feel so much better.”

“I don’t mean it like that,” the girl quickly backtracked. “I mean that no one cares about your drama because they’re too caught up in their own. Nini’s ex is going to Homecoming with her arch rival—do you really think she even notices what’s going on between you and Seb?”

Carlos heaved a heavy sigh. “I suppose not.”

“So don’t worry about what other people think; just worry about yourself. Ask Seb, don’t ask Seb—do what feels right for you.”

But that was the problem. Carlos didn’t know what felt right.

But he did feel a text notification coming in. He reached for his phone and was relieved to see it was from Seb, even though it just say _hey_.

“From Seb?” Ashlyn asked, a strange twinkle in her eye.

Carlos nodded as the next message came in: _or should I say hola?_

It took Carlos a moment before it registered.

“Omigod, I’m supposed to help him study for his Spanish test tomorrow! I almost forgot. That must’ve been what he was trying to talk to me about.”

Ashlyn gestured to his phone. “It’s not too late! Text him back!”

Carlos immediately typed out, _**Que hora?**_

_siete?_

_or siete-thirty??_

_can i call u when im done w chores?_

_**Sure.** _

Carlos gave a relieved sigh and looked up to find Ashlyn grinning at him. “What?”

The girl shook her head. “I’m just glad I didn’t ruin everything.”

Carlos was glad, too.

Though he realized he better get home quickly and do his own homework because he figured he might be studying with Seb all evening.

Well, studying for some of it anyway.

  
  



	12. Chapter 12

The lunch bell rang, and Señora Hemingway announced, “Okay, class, time’s up.”

Seb quickly glanced over his test one last time as he took it to the front of the room. Setting it down on top of the others already on the teacher’s desk, Seb couldn’t help but smile, feeling good about his answers.

And he felt even better when he walked out of the classroom and found Carlos waiting for him.

“Well? How’d it go?” his tutor eagerly asked.

Seb beamed. “I think I did muy bueno _._ And I could hear your voice in my head during the entire test.”

“I told you,” Carlos said. “Drilling those conjugations is the best way to learn.”

But Seb shook his head. “Not that voice. I kept hearing your Ritchie Valens impersonation.”

One of the vocabulary words for his test had been _bailar_ —to dance. While it made Seb think of Sharpay’s line “¿Quieres bailar?” it had instead made Carlos burst into the 1950s rock’n’roll song every time the word came up.

“You mean _Para bailar La Bamba_ ,” Carlos sang, doing a little shimmy as the two boys started down the hallway. _“Para bailar La Bamba, se necesita una poca de gracia._ ” Carlos did some fancy footwork, spinning around Seb before continuing, _“Una poca de gracia para mi para ti, ay arriba, ay arriba.”_

Seb laughed as the boy purposefully rolled his r’s extra long. Although “¡Arriba!” was Ryan’s line in the show and not Sharpay’s, Carlos had still spent nearly half an hour last night over FaceTime trying to teaching Seb how to roll his r’s. Try as he might, Seb couldn’t do it, and Carlos had teased that he sounded like a pirate with his flat “arrrr.”

“ _Ay arriba, ay arriba, por ti sere,_ ” Carlos continued to sing, pointing back and forth between Seb and himself as he sang the lines, _“por ti sere, por ti sere,_ ” meaning “For you I’ll be.”

Seb was laughing at Carlos’s carefree performance. But he was also thinking about the words, now that he understood what they meant: to dance La Bamba, you need a bit of grace.

As Carlos ended the verse, Seb quickly teased, “I’m not sure I have a bit of grace, and I’m thinking it’s needed to dance La ‘Bop’-a as well.”

“Sure you do,” Carlos said. “And I can help you with that because _Yo no soy marinero_ ,” bursting into song again from where he left off. “ _Yo no soy marinero, soy_ _choreographer_ _, soy_ _choreographer_ _, soy_ _choreographer_ _.”_

Seb laughed as his friend attempted to squeeze all the extra syllables into the rhythm of the song.

“But seriously,” Carlos added, “you don’t need grace—all you need is more practice. And I’ll make sure we save plenty of time to run La ‘Bop’-a this afternoon at rehearsal.”

Seb frowned. “No you won’t. Dance rehearsal was canceled, remember? We’re having a music rehearsal instead.”

“Uggh! Why do my rehearsals keep getting canceled?!”

Seb nodded, remembering that this Friday’s rehearsal had been canceled as well—no wonder Carlos was upset.

“Well, we still have Saturday, right?” Seb said, trying to cheer up his friend.

Carlos raised an eyebrow. “There’s no rehearsal on Saturday either, remember? It’s our big tech workday, getting the sign and costumes ready for our photo shoot next week.”

Seb nodded, having forgotten both the tech day and the photo shoot, although both had been on the original schedule they were given at the read-through. He was excited and a bit nervous about the photo shoot. He hadn’t heard from Kourtney yet about what his costume was going to be, and while he trusted her NOT to put him in a frilly dress, he was still anxious to see what she had in mind for his character.

But suddenly the full impact of Carlos’s statement hit him. “So wait—no dance rehearsal on Saturday either?!”

That meant that by the time they ran “Bop to the Top” again, over a week would have passed since their last rehearsal, and that had been traumatic enough. Last Saturday, when they’d slowed down the song—and Carlos had finally stopped yelling at him—Seb had been able to get through most of the dance, although Rico certainly wasn’t helping. It wasn’t that the dancer wasn’t doing the moves correctly himself; it was just that he wasn’t really leading. Most of Carlos’s choreography for the number had a salsa feel, which really required a partner to lead the ballroom moves. But Rico was dancing more like a soloist, so there was no real connection between them when they danced. That was perfect for “What I’ve Been Looking For,” but it was all wrong for “Bop to the Top.”

And that was the song Seb was having the most troubles with. He’d been drilling it every night since Carlos taught it to him, but he could only get so far practicing alone. He’d finally gotten down the transitions and knew what order the moves came in; it was just the “dancing as a couple” bit that needed work, and that wasn’t something he could learn practicing by himself.

And the longer he went without rehearsing with a partner, the more he was going to forget.

And the more Carlos was going to yell.

“Could we like set up an extra dance rehearsal?” Seb asked as the idea suddenly came to him.

“Yeah, but when?” Carlos threw his hands up in frustration.. “We’re already scheduled after school most days, and the school isn’t even open on Sundays.”

Seb thought for a moment. “How about before school?”

Carlos shrugged. “I don’t know if Rico would be available then.”

“It doesn’t have to be with Rico,” Seb suggested, realizing after he said it that it might be even better without him. “You know the steps, right? Couldn’t you practice it with me?” No doubt Carlos knew how to lead, and that’s what Seb needed right now.

“Yeah, I suppose we could do that. When were you thinking?”

Seb knew he’d have to arrange for one of his siblings to milk the cows in the morning, which might take some time and a bit of persuading, so he suggested, “Friday morning?”

“Perfect! It’s a date!”

Seb gave a sigh of relief, glad that he’d get a chance to rehearse the number sooner rather than later.

Carlos went on, “I mean, it’s a rehearsal date. To rehearse. Friday morning. Before school.”

Seb nodded, suddenly having something to look forward to on Friday. The sheer relief of knowing he’d get to dance with a partner before next week was practically making him giddy. “And I’m sure I’ll get better, dancing La ‘Bop’-a with _soy choreographer, soy choreographer,”_ he teasingly sang.

But Carlos frowned, saying, “You’re not the choreographer; I am. So what’s the right verb conjugation?”

Seb laughed. “I don’t know! My test is over!” Carlos raised an eyebrow, and Seb tried to remember how to conjugate the verb _ser_ for _tu_. “ _Eres_ _choreographer,_ _eres_ _choreographer_?” he sang doubtfully.

“ _Excelente!”_ Carlos cheered. “Now we just need to work on your rolled r’s.”

Seb shook his head, convinced it was impossible. “I don’t think my tongue was designed for that.”

Carlos opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, and Seb noticed his friend’s face looked a little flushed for some reason.

But as they entered the cafeteria, Carlos started singing once again, “ _Para bailar La ‘Bop’-a!”_

Seb laughed, happy to see his friend in such a good mood, before joining in himself.

  
  



	13. Chapter 13

“Hey, Miss Jenn,” Carlos said, setting down his lunch sack on the teacher’s desk. “What’s up?”

The teacher smiled as she sat at her desk, already eating her protein bar. “I just thought it would be nice for us to eat together for a change. It’s been quite awhile since we had lunch together, just you and me, and I thought this would give us a chance to catch up.”

Carlos felt awful about having abandoned her so often recently. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been eating my lunch in the cafeteria with Seb and the other theatre kids, but if I—”

Miss Jenn put up her hand to stop him. “Carlos sweetie, please, go ahead and eat with your friends.” Carlos breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he hadn’t upset her, as she went on. “I just meant that we haven’t had time to discuss the show together recently, so I thought we should at least check in, especially since there’s been so many changes lately.”

Carlos nodded. It felt as if EVERYTHING had changed over these last two weeks. He’d reworked the choreography for four songs, made a new friend, and was even spending some of his free time and most lunch periods with the theatre kids in the cafeteria now. It seemed the only constant in his life was the peanut butter sandwich his mama packed him every day.

And Miss Jenn’s friendship.

“Things have definitely been busy,” he agreed, adding, “and it’s been WAY too long since we’ve talked.” He made a mental note to try to schedule at least one lunch period a week with Miss Jenn. He genuinely missed their conversations—she was truly the one person he felt he could say anything to.

Well, her and Seb.

Though no, there were definitely things he couldn’t say to Seb.

Such as, “Hey, wanna go to Homecoming?”

Carlos sighed, frustrated with himself.

Miss Jenn must’ve noticed for she gave him a concerned look. “How are you doing?”

Carlos shrugged. “Okay.”

“Well, if things start getting to be too much for you, please tell me. I know being the student choreographer is a big responsibility, especially for a sophomore, but you’re doing a great job. And I love what you’ve done with the Ryan and Sharpay numbers—the audience isn’t even going to notice that Rico isn’t singing.”

Carlos smiled proudly, pleased that she valued his efforts.

“It’s probably not good to say this,” Miss Jenn went on, “but I’m almost glad Chuck had his little encounter with the law. Not that I’m advocating high schoolers smoking weed—that’s what college is for. But I think that having to recast Ryan has turned out to be a good thing for our show. In the long run, I believe it’s actually made everything better.”

Carlos had to agree. He doubted he’d have ever gotten to know Seb the way he had without all the extra dance rehearsals. And he knew the new choreography he’d come up with was much more daring than his original concepts—it had had to be, in order to make Rico’s not singing work. Sometimes impossible situations made your work that much better because you had to rise to the challenge.

Miss Jenn continued, “I appreciate that you’ve been putting in so much effort these past few weeks, but I want you to pace yourself. It’s only going to get harder the closer we get to opening. Now that most of the blocking’s done—or at least it will be after next week—it’s time to start giving the show over to the cast. We’ve raised our baby chicks, and now it’s time to let them fly.”

Carlos saw a tear well up in the director’s eye, and he totally knew how she felt. Listening to the cast practice their songs yesterday at the music rehearsal—especially Seb singing the Evans duets as solos—had made Carlos so proud, knowing how far the whole cast had come...and a little sad, knowing that soon they weren’t even going to need him anymore.

“But,” Miss Jenn went on matter-of-factly, “before all that, we’ve got a busy weekend in front of us.”

“We do?” Carlos didn’t feel busy at all, since the next official dance rehearsal wasn’t scheduled till next week.

“Don’t forget, Carlos, putting on a musical is about more than just rehearsals. Tech is just as important, and Saturday is our big tech workday. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. I really hope we can get the sign painted and hung so it’s ready for the big photo shoot on Monday.” She smiled, adding, “So with all that, it’s going to be a busy weekend, not to mention the Homecoming dance tomorrow night.”

Carlos was surprised she’d even brought it up. “Are you going?”

“Well, Principal Gutierrez has asked me, but I haven’t decided yet.”

Carlos frowned—he didn’t know teachers had a choice about chaperoning.

“And how about you?” she asked, a twinkle in her eye. “Are you going?”

Carlos shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet. Ashlyn keeps asking me.”

“Oh! Ashlyn! That’s not who—well, I’m sure you two would have a great time together,” Miss Jenn said with an encouraging smile.

Carlos sighed. He was sure he’d have a great time, too...if Seb said yes. But if he said no…

Maybe his teacher could give him some advice.

“Miss Jenn, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, sweetie. Anything. That’s what I’m here for.”

Carlos sighed, not sure what to say. “Well, you see...Ashlyn keeps bugging me to ask Seb to Homecoming, but I don’t know. I mean, what if I don’t like his answer?”

“Seb, yes, that makes more sense,” Miss Jenn said under her breath before answering, “Well, Carlos, you’ll never know Seb’s answer unless you ask the question. And as my director always used to say, ‘If you wanna fly, you have to risk falling on your face...and always double-check your harness before going onstage.’”

Carlos nodded, remembering that he’d passed along the same advice to Seb.

But it was different when HE was the one who was expected to take the risks.

Because although Ashlyn seemed convinced, Carlos wasn’t really sure whether her liked Seb or not.

He knew he loved hanging out with Seb. And while he hadn’t had much of a chance at rehearsals so far, he had a feeling he’d love dancing with Seb, too. And the thought of seeing the blond farm boy in a suit and tie just made him smile.

For a chance at all that, was Carlos willing to risk falling on his face?

He’d just have to see.

* * *

Cue Episode 5: Homecoming!

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I started thinking about how Seb sang both Ryan and Sharpay’s lines in HSM and realized that, if Ryan didn’t sing, that would really complicate the plot of the musical. In addition, I noticed that prior to the “Bop to the Top” dance rehearsal where Carlos asked Seb to Homecoming, Seb had said exactly 6 lines on the show, none of them to Carlos. So I decided to come up with a rational explanation for all the things that had been bugging me (such as Seb playing the wrong version of “What I’ve Been Looking For” and “Ryan” dancing in the basketball and karaoke numbers) and, in the process, show how Seb and Carlos’s friendship/romance developed.
> 
> On the show we see a part of the dance for “Bop to the Top” and the Sharpay part of “Stick to the Status Quo”, but you never see Seb & Rico’s “What I’ve Been Looking For.” I decided to approach it like a director/choreographer who was suddenly faced with a duet where one person wasn’t singing—I hope you like what I came up with. And yes, I often resort to the Gypsy striptease myself—it usually gets a big laugh!
> 
> The poster says Homecoming is on October 9. In 2019, that was a Wednesday, but in 2020 it was a Friday, and Friday makes much more sense for both a football game and a dance. And Big Red asks Ricky, “So, what happened with Gina on Friday?” in reference to the dance, so I decided to go with the dance on Friday. Not that anyone cares, but it was a decision that I agonized over so I thought I’d explain my reasoning.
> 
> At the last musical I was in (which got canceled because of COVID), they asked us to give our pronouns during our introductions at the read-through. I thought it was important to distinguish between Seb’s pronouns and Sharpay’s (since they never address either on the show.) As a girl who has played lots of boys in shows (and LOVES playing boys), I too feel guilty that my pronouns aren’t they/them. :)
> 
> I based Seb’s crush on Kaison on the look Seb gives the boy when he takes his hand at the read-through. Then when I realized Kaison had his hand practically in Seb’s crotch during the Sharpay lift in “We’re All In This Together,” it was too perfect. And it didn’t occur to me until much later that Kaison is likely playing Zeke (based on the scene where EJ gets hit with the basketball!), so it all fits together nicely!
> 
> Maybe it’s just me, but there seem to be a lot of clues on the show suggesting that Seb is “Mormon” (aka from the Church of Jesus Christ.) I did a lot of research and even quizzed a friend of mine (who told me they don’t use the term Mormon anymore) about how to deal with the fact that on the show Seb’s family is very supportive of him but the church is not. I paraphrased Seb’s line from on an article I read by a 20-something Mormon boy who is openly gay. I know it’s only a few lines in a fanfic, but I wanted to be respectful and realistic (and I thought it would explain why Seb is so comfortable with who he is.)
> 
> While the rest of the world was watching Glee, I was watching Smash. I decided to rewatch it while writing this (for research, of course) and was frankly surprised at how much sex there was on the show—like Seb, I had also only remembered all the theatre stuff! And Leslie Odom Jr. is SO CUTE, especially when he brings his boyfriend home to meet his parents—I imagined that would have had a huge impact on Seb, seeing a healthy gay relationship modeled that way.


End file.
